Russia's strike on Ukraine was not an ICBM, but an "experimental" medium-range ballistic missile, a US official said Thursday, playing down the significance of the attack.
"Russia may be seeking to use this capability to try to intimidate Ukraine and its supporters... but it will not be a game changer in this conflict," the US official said.
Ukraine accused Russia on Thursday of having launched a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as part of a barrage on the central city of Dnipro.
The US official said the missile used in the strike was not an ICBM but an "experimental medium-range ballistic missile" and Russia "likely possesses only a handful of these experimental missiles."
"Ukraine has withstood countless attacks from Russia, including from missiles with significantly larger warheads than this weapon," the official said.
The Kremlin has not denied it used the weapon, which can strike targets from a distance of thousands of kilometers, spokesman Dmitri Peskov refusing to comment when questioned.
The Ukrainian air force said Moscow had launched the nuclear-capable missile as part of a barrage towards the central city of Dnipro, where local authorities said an infrastructure facility was hit and two civilians were wounded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said experts were examining evidence before confirming an intercontinental ballistic missile had been fired by "our crazy neighbor".
He said that the attack bore "all the characteristics" of an ICBM attack and accused the Kremlin of "using Ukraine as a testing ground".
Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesman said analysts were preparing their "expert conclusions" while adding that the attack bore "all flight characteristics of an ICBM".
"The strike itself proves: Russia does not seek peace. To the contrary, it makes every effort to expand the war," spokesman Georgiy Tykhy said in a statement on social media.
The attack on Dnipro comes just days after several foreign embassies shuttered temporarily in the Ukrainian capital, citing the threat of a large-scale strike.
Kremlin declines comment
Tension has been building between Moscow and Kyiv's allies in the West since Ukrainian forces struck Russian territory with Western-supplied long-range weapons on Tuesday after getting the green light from Washington.
Asked whether Moscow had fired an ICBM, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said he had "nothing to say on this topic".
He did however say the Kremlin was doing everything to avoid a nuclear conflict, having updated its nuclear doctrine this week.
"We have stressed in the context of our doctrine that Russia is taking a responsible position to make maximum effort not to allow such a conflict," Peskov said.
Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman received a phone call during a live press briefing, in which she was ordered not to comment on reports of the ballistic strike, video showed.
Yuzhmash is the Russian name of an aerospace manufacturer, now called Pivdenmash, in Dnipro that produced missiles during the Soviet era and is reported now to make satellites.
Russia claimed to have struck the facility in September this year.
Western countries reacted with alarm.
"While we're assessing the full facts it's obvious that such (an) attack would mark yet another clear escalation from the side of (Vladimir) Putin," European Union foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano told reporters.
The United Kingdom said the strike would be "reckless and escalator" if confirmed. France said it would represent an "extremely serious" incident.
Ukraine's air force said it had downed missiles launched on the industrial city, without elaborating on whether the alleged intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was among those downed.
With AFP
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