Two US officials confirmed to Fox News on Thursday that the Russian experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) launched into Ukraine was not hypersonic.
Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the attack in an address to the nation on Thursday night, a direct response to the joint US and UK authorization for Ukraine to use Western-supplied long-range missiles to target Russia. He said that.
President Putin and U.S. intelligence sources have since confirmed that the attack was not an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), but the Kremlin chief also insisted that the weapon used posed a serious challenge to the West.
Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon spokeswoman, confirmed to reporters at a Thursday press conference that Russia launched an IRBM based on one of Russia's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) models. She sometimes called the IRBM “experimental” and explained that this was the first time the missile had been used on the battlefield.
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The Yar intercontinental ballistic missile was test-fired from the Plesetsk launch pad in northwestern Russia. (Russian Ministry of Defense Press Service, via AP)
“This is a new type of lethal capability used on the battlefield, and that is certainly a concern for us,” Singh said.
He also said the United States was briefly notified prior to the launch through nuclear and risk mitigation channels.
Still, Singh told reporters that the Pentagon has not seen any adjustments to Russia's nuclear posture, and the United States has not made any changes to its own nuclear posture.
According to a translation, Putin said the missile hit the target at a speed of Mach 10.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Evgeny Balitsky, the Russian-appointed head of Ukraine's Zaporozhye region, during a meeting at the Moscow Kremlin. (Vyacheslav Prokofiev, Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo, via AP)
“That's 4.5 miles per second,” Putin said. “The world's current air defense systems and the missile defense systems developed by the Americans in Europe cannot intercept such missiles.”
Despite Putin's claims, two U.S. defense officials told Fox News that the missile is not hypersonic and, according to NASA, its speed exceeds 3,000 miles per hour, faster than Mach 5. Ta.
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Singh told reporters that the only escalation in the war between Russia and Ukraine is that Russia has invaded a sovereign state on the border and moved north to bring in about 11,000 soldiers to fight Ukraine. He said that he relied on North Korea.
After President Biden reversed his position this week to allow Ukraine to use the US-supplied Long Range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) against mainland Russia, Kiev immediately moved to Bryansk, more than 110 miles from Russian territory. attacked a military arsenal. border of Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers undergo training in the Zaporizhzhia region. (Andriy Andrienko/Ukraine 65th Mechanized Brigade, Associated Press)
Ukraine's military has officially launched advanced missiles, but the weapons system still relies on U.S. satellites to hit targets, an issue Putin touched on in an unreleased speech Thursday.
“We are testing the Oleshnik missile system under combat conditions in response to the aggressive actions of NATO countries against Russia. “We will decide on further deployment of long-range missiles,” he said.
President Putin has claimed to warn Ukrainians about impending attacks like the one carried out by Russia on Thursday, but it remains unclear whether he has issued a warning to Ukrainians living in Dnipro.
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The Kremlin chief said the “defense industry” was targeted, but images released by Ukraine's Defense Ministry showed what appeared to be civilian infrastructure caught up in the conflict.
Fox News Digital's Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
