Russia is said to have fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) against a Ukrainian city, marking the Kremlin's first attempt to launch an expensive but potentially powerful weapon with nuclear weapons that can strike from thousands of miles away. It was a reminder that I had a lot of it.
The city of Dnipropetrovsk in central Ukraine was attacked by an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) early Thursday morning, Ukraine claims, and state media said it was attacked by an air-launched ballistic missile and an air-launched ballistic missile. Seven cruise missiles were also reportedly fired, as part of a broader air raid. In the city. The Ukrainian government has not released any official statement regarding casualties from the “massive attack” but said it managed to shoot down six cruise missiles in flight.
Ukraine's air force claims that the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was launched from Astrakhan Oblast, which borders the Caspian Sea. The launch has not been corroborated by Western countries monitoring the conflict, with Britain, for example, claiming it was unconfirmed. Russia has not yet confirmed or denied launching a conventionally explosive but nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which clearly deters further Western involvement in Ukraine. This is the latest sword-wielding move by a nation seeking to
Ukraine insisted there was “no serious damage” but said medical facilities and industrial areas in the city were damaged. Regional Administrator Sergii Raisak said in a statement: “Since early morning, the invaders have been attacking the region on a large scale. Information about the impact is being revealed. At the moment, damage to industrial enterprises in Dnipropetrovsk is known. Two fires also occurred.
Ukraine claimed the attack was an attempt to damage the city's “critical infrastructure.” Meanwhile, an airstrike severed power interconnections at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, just 110 miles away. This left the factory with only one backup power supply.
Loss of off-site power can be catastrophic for nuclear power plants. This is because the control system that manages the reaction process and is able to stop the accident in an emergency cannot safely rely on the power generated by the nuclear power plant itself and requires redundancy. The Zaporizhia plant has been occupied by the Russian military for several years and is currently operated by the Russian nuclear company Rosatom. Russia is one of the few Russian companies unaffected by Western sanctions, as it is a major global player in the supply of uranium that Russia needs. Nuclear power plants are everywhere.
At the time of reporting, Russia had neither confirmed nor denied the suspicion of an ICBM launch. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's top spokesman, said only at a morning briefing: “I have nothing to say on this matter right now.” If true, the attack, the first of its kind in the conflict, comes at a time of rapidly escalating tensions between Russia and Western countries supporting Ukraine.
The United States reversed President Biden's longstanding position that allowing Ukraine to launch long-range missile attacks on Russia's homeland would be a potentially dangerous escalation of the conflict, with the first such attack taking place on Tuesday. Further attacks using U.S. and British precision missiles continued into Wednesday.
Russia said it considers any precision attack against military or political targets in the Russian Federation to be an act of war by an arms-supplying state, even if carried out by a third party. It is unclear how far Russia intends to accept this nuclear saber rattling. Throughout the conflict, the Kremlin has expressed several times its displeasure with Western involvement in what it clearly views as a private war, but it has never followed through with its threats on issues like nuclear war. Supply of tanks, early missiles, and jet fighters.
But long-range missile attacks on Russian soil may be taken more seriously within the Kremlin. Negotiations over policy on whether to allow Ukraine to launch such attacks against the aggressor date back several months and have reached a critical juncture, but Russia remains in a position of final opposition to Putin's attempts to dismantle the state. It reminded him that he had a trump card.
When President Zelenskiy visited Washington in September to call for long-range strikes, he said Russia was reviving the nuclear doctrine to create a co-responsible state for attacks by U.S.-backed states. It seems he complied. In October, Russia angrily deployed a sizable arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles, very similar to those reminiscent of those in its stockpile, which it has never conducted a continent-spanning test-fire. issued.
Land launch of Yars intercontinental ballistic missile from Plesetsk to Archiensk (pictured, above) demonstrates range of 3,500 miles, and Russia releases extensive footage showing launch of several nuclear-capable missiles did. Yars is Russia's newest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), part of the first new weapon of its kind since the end of the Cold War, and with a flight range of 3,500 miles, only about half its claimed maximum range, it can fly deep into the United States if necessary. It is designed to attack.
And earlier this week, President Vladimir Putin signed a new nuclear doctrine that sent a further message to the West, as the United States reportedly authorized attacks on Russia's interior with American-made missiles in the hands of Ukraine.
While today's alleged launch and attack was for war purposes rather than training purposes, the use of intercontinental ballistic missiles to deliver conventional warheads rather than much cheaper and less sophisticated tactical ballistic missiles or cruise missiles , is a further message from Russia to the West.
Poland is one of the European countries closest to hostilities, and perhaps the most wary of Russia's territorial ambitions—if Russia succeeds in Ukraine, it has plans for Poland. Effectively, it is a matter of confidence in Poland's defense community, which apparently responded to Thursday morning's launch by scrambling its fighter jets and ground defense systems.
The Polish Air Force, which operates F-16 fighter jets, said on Thursday that it “draws attention to new attacks by the Russian Federation, which is conducting attacks on objects in western Ukraine and elsewhere, and pays close attention to aircraft of Poland and its allies.” issued a statement. Launched an operation in our airspace…The operational commander of the RSZ put all available forces and resources at his disposal, the fighter pairs on duty were scrambled, and the ground air defense and radar reconnaissance systems were brought to the highest level. The state of readiness reached. ”
