War in Ukraine: Russia would have fired an “experimental medium-range ballistic missile” and not an intercontinental missile

Russia fired an “experimental medium-range ballistic missile” at Ukraine, and not an intercontinental missile, a senior American official said this Thursday, November 21, in a statement sent to AFP.

Moscow “seeks to intimidate Ukraine and the countries that support it by using this weapon, or to attract attention, but this will not change the situation in this conflict,” he said.

As a reminder, according to initial statements from the Ukrainian army, Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile this Thursday morning from the Astrakhan region as part of an attack against Ukraine. This would be the first time that Russia has used this type of long-range missile capable of carrying a powerful payload since the start of its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The use of this weapon comes after Ukraine's use of long-range American and British missiles on Tuesday and Wednesday to strike deep into Russian territory, also a first in the conflict, after the green light given last Sunday in Kyiv by US President Joe Biden.