Ukraine’s air force initially said the missile was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the kind Russia could use to strike the United States.

But the US military later said the weapon was an intermediate-range missile (IRBM), based on the design of Russia’s RS-26 ICBM longer-range missile.

The Pentagon said it was fired with a conventional warhead, but Moscow could modify it if it wanted as Russia only had a handful of them.

“It could be converted to certainly carry different types of conventional or nuclear warheads,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said.

A Russian drone strike on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed two people and injured 12 on Friday morning, regional authorities said.

Twelve apartment buildings, five private homes, a shop and three cars were damaged after three drones attacked the city around 5 a.m. (0300 GMT), national police said.

Volodymyr Artiukh, the regional governor of Sumy, said Russian forces had equipped drones with shrapnel for the attack on a densely populated area of ​​the city.

“This weapon is only used to kill people,” Artiukh said, pointing to scars on a damaged building. “Not for a facility, but to destroy more people.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said the Korean Peninsula has never been so close to nuclear war, following what he described as “aggressive” actions by the US in particular.

“Never before have the warring sides on the Korean Peninsula faced such a dangerous and acute confrontation that could escalate into the most destructive thermonuclear war,” Kim said.

“We have already gone as far as we can in negotiations with the United States, but what we have become certain of from the outcome is not the superpower’s willingness to coexist, but its deep power position and its aggressive and hostile policies towards us that can never happen. change.”

NATO and Ukraine will meet next week in Brussels, Belgium, in response to Moscow’s use of the Oreshnik missile on Dnipro, central Ukraine.

Tuesday’s meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council will take place at ambassadorial level. It was called up by Kiev after the attack on the city of Dnipro.

Russia’s use of a new experimental hypersonic missile marks a serious escalation of the conflict, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned.

Zelensky said the attack on Dnipro, central Ukraine, with an intermediate-range ballistic warhead on Thursday was “further proof that Russia has no interest in peace.”

Ukrainian air defense forces said the missile – which has a range of more than 5,400 miles and can be used to carry nuclear warheads – was fired from Russia’s Astrakhan region, on the Caspian Sea.

‘He is testing you, dear partners. He must be stopped. A lack of harsh responses to Russia’s actions sends the message that such behavior is acceptable. This is what Putin does,” Zelensky said.

“Pressure is needed. Russia must be forced to real peace, which can only be achieved through strength,” he added.

President Vladimir Putin said Russia had hit Ukraine with a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile in response to Kiev’s use of US and British missiles against Russia.

Putin said that “Oreshnik” (Hazel Tree), one of Russia’s newest intermediate-range missiles, was a hypersonic ballistic missile.

He said it was moving at 10 times the speed of sound and therefore could not be intercepted. Russian sources said the range was 5,000 km (3,100 mi), allowing Russia to attack most of Europe and the west coast of the United States.

It appears to have multiple, independently targetable reentry vehicles: separate warheads that can hit different targets.

Anatoly Matviychuk, a Russian military expert, said it could carry six to eight conventional or nuclear warheads and was likely already in service, according to Yuri Podolyaka, a prominent Ukrainian-born pro-Russian military blogger.

The Pentagon said the missile Russia fired was based on the RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

It said the US was informed of the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels.

The RS-26 is a road-mobile solid-fuel ballistic missile that entered development in 2008.

The US formally withdrew from the historic 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia in 2019 after saying Moscow was violating the agreement, an accusation the Kremlin denied.

The US said at the time that Russia was developing a ground-based cruise missile (known in Russia as 9M729) that was distinct from the RS-26.

The foreign secretary has pledged to do “whatever it takes” to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia, after Vladimir Putin threatened attacks on Britain.

Russia’s president used a new ballistic missile against Ukraine on Thursday, with Putin claiming the use of the weapon was in response to Britain and the US allowing missiles they supplied to Ukraine to be used to target targets in Russia to hit.

“We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities,” he said.

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The Interior Minister has said that “we will continue to see “aggressive language” from Vladimir Putin.

Asked about the Russian leader’s threat to use weapons against countries that allow their own weapons to be used against Russia, Yvette Cooper told Sky News this morning: “Russia has invaded a sovereign state.

“We have seen Putin’s aggressive, vocal tone and response all the time, it is completely unacceptable, and we will continue to see that kind of aggressive language.

“It is clear to us that this type of behavior cannot be tolerated, and that is why we have supported Ukraine in defending against Putin’s aggression.”

Ms Cooper also refused to officially confirm whether British weapons had been used by Ukraine in Russia, saying: “I am not going to comment on the details of individual defense operations.”

Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken for the first time after Russia was believed to have fired intercontinental ballistic missiles into Ukraine.

In a video shared on Twitter, Zelensky marked Dignity and Freedom Day in Ukraine by labeling Russia as an “insane neighbor” who despises “dignity and freedom.”

Zelensky claimed that Russia and leader Vladimir Putin are “so afraid” of Ukraine that they are “searching the world for more weapons.”

Zelensky also claimed that Putin is using Ukraine as a “testing ground” before thanking those who are helping his country fight the war against Russia.