.Says attack was a “test”
Russia launched a new type of intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) against Dnipro, east Ukraine on the morning of Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
Initially, Ukraine’s Air Force reported the attack had been carried out by an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), though some Western officials later cast doubt on the claim and said it was an IRBM, not an ICBM, Reuters reported.
In the evening of November. 21, Putin said in comments reported by TASS that the attack was a test of Russia’s “newest missile,” an IRBM called “Oreshnik.” “In combat conditions, a test was carried out of one of the latest Russian intermediate-range missile systems. In this case, with a non-nuclear hypersonic version of a ballistic missile,” he said.
A United States official speaking on condition on anonymity later confirmed to Kyiv Independent that Russia launched “an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine.”
In the early hours of Nov. 21, a country-wide air raid alert sounded due to the threat of ballistic missiles, and later, the launch of several Russian Tu-95MS bomber aircraft. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, the attack targeted the city of Dnipro using a number of different missile types.
“In particular, an intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation, an Kh-47M2 ‘Kinzhal’ aeroballistic missile from a MiG-31K fighter jet was launched from the Tambov region, and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles were fired from Tu-95MS strategic bombers,” the report said. The report did not specify what type of ICBM was launched.
Astrakhan Oblast is located in southern Russia, over 700 kilometers (435 miles) east of Dnipro. The region borders Kazakhstan, Russia’s Kalmykia Republic, Volgograd Oblast, and the Caspian Sea.
An industrial enterprise was damaged, and two fires broke out in the city, Governor Serhii Lysak said. A rehabilitation center for people with disabilities was damaged in the attack, Mayor Borys Filatov said. At least two people are reported to have been injured.
Ukraine’s Air Force said six of the Kh-101 missiles were reportedly shot down, but did not say if the reported missile had caused any of the damage in Dnipro.
