Payam Javan: Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) during a missile attack on Ukraine on Thursday, according to Kyiv’s air force, marking the first known use of such a powerful weapon in the 33-month-old war. Designed for delivering nuclear strikes over vast distances, ICBMs are a key part of Russia’s nuclear deterrent. Ukraine did not specify the type of missile or its warhead, emphasizing there was no indication it was nuclear-armed. The missile reportedly targeted critical infrastructure in the central-eastern city of Dnipro, causing damage to an industrial facility and injuring two people.

This development comes amid escalating tensions after Ukraine used U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets inside Russia earlier in the week. Moscow has warned that attacks on Russian territory with Western-supplied weapons constitute a significant escalation in the conflict. Security experts noted the unprecedented use of an ICBM in a conventional war, with Andrey Baklitskiy from the U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research calling it “unprecedented” and questioning its practicality due to cost and precision. Ukrainian officials questioned whether the U.S. had been informed of the launch in advance, a measure typically taken to prevent unintended escalation.

The attack highlights the growing risks of broader international involvement in the conflict. NATO has not commented on the launch, and the U.S. response remains unclear. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently adjusted nuclear strike policies, lowering the threshold for their use in response to conventional attacks. With both sides employing increasingly sophisticated and long-range weaponry, the situation underscores the intensifying stakes of the ongoing war.