Putin Says Russia Used New Medium-Range Ballistic Missile to Strike Ukraine

Firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Nov. 21, 2024. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk region/Handout via Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Russian forces used a hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) to strike targets in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Nov. 21.

Putin said the MRBM is a new missile model that Russian forces have dubbed “Oreshnik.” He said the missile was armed with a non-nuclear payload.

The Russian president made the announcement in a televised address in Moscow, just hours after Ukrainian officials began reporting what they believed was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) strike on Dnipro.

In a press statement earlier on Nov. 21, Ukraine’s Air Force assessed that Russian forces launched an ICBM from the Astrakhan region, which borders the Caspian Sea.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched this ICBM alongside a Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile and six Kh-101 cruise missiles. The Ukrainian military said it intercepted the cruise missiles, and reported that the two ballistic missiles didn’t cause significant damage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was less definitive about whether it was an ICBM that struck Dnipro, but in a press statement on Nov. 21, he said, “All the parameters: speed, altitude—match those of an intercontinental ballistic missile.”

Zelenskyy said further investigations are underway.

ICBMs are the longest-ranged ballistic missiles, classified as being capable of traveling more than 3,400 miles. MRBMs, by contrast, are classified as missiles with a maximum range of between 620 miles and 1,860 miles.

Speaking with reporters on Nov. 21, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said the MRBM model that Russian forces used was derived from an existing ICBM model, the RS-26 “Rubezh.”

Unconfirmed videos posted online purport to show multiple warheads striking Ukraine, a potential sign that the ballistic missile was launched in a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle configuration.

The ballistic missile strike comes just days after reports emerged that the United States had allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made long-range weapons for deep strikes inside Russian territory, a permission Zelenskyy has been requesting for months.

Subsequent reports emerged that Ukrainian forces had used U.S.-made MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System ballistic missiles and UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles to strike inside Russia’s borders.

Putin has warned that he views long-range strikes inside Russia as a significant escalation in the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war.

“In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons, on November 21 of this year, the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine,” Putin said on Nov. 21.

Singh said the United States had been notified of the Russian ballistic missile strike ahead of time through an existing nuclear risk reduction channel with Russia.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv was shuttered on Nov. 20, the day before the ballistic missile strike in Dnipro. The U.S. State Department said it made this decision after obtaining “specific information of a potential significant air attack.”

Despite Russia’s use of an MRBM, Singh said the outgoing Biden administration is going to continue to flow weapons to Ukraine.

“Putin can choose to end this war today,” Singh said. “He can choose to withdraw Russian forces and end this—his war of aggression, and his war of choice.”

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.