Ukraine’s military says Russia is launching ICBMs, a claim denied by a Western official

LONDON and KYIV — Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile toward Ukraine on Thursday, officials in Kiev said, but a Western official told ABC News that the attack did not appear to be an ICBM.

It was instead a ballistic missile, which was headed for Dnipro in southeastern Ukraine, the Western official said.

The claim was not immediately confirmed by Moscow, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declining to comment, saying questions about it should instead be directed to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The launch of an ICBM, if confirmed, would come amid concerns that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could escalate further. Ukraine’s military fired US-made ATACMS missiles at targets in Russia for the first time this week, days after US President Joe Biden permitted such use of long-range weapons.

Hours after Russia announced it had shot down some of those ATACMS missiles, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had updated the country’s nuclear doctrine, a move that lowered the bar for a response with nuclear weapons.

The Ukrainian Air Force announced Thursday morning that it tracked the launch of the ICBM, along with six additional missiles, all aimed at the Nipro region. The ICBM appears to have been launched from the Astrakhan region in southwestern Russia, Ukrainian military officials said.

All the missiles were fired in about two hours, starting at about 5 a.m., Ukraine said. These targeted businesses and critical infrastructure.

The other six missiles were shot down, Ukraine said. No casualties or damage were reported, officials said.

ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Lauren Minore and Yulia Drozd contributed to this report.