Russia-Ukraine war: Doubts cast over Kyiv claim that Russia launched intercontinental ballistic missile as it happened

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A western official has cast doubt on a Ukrainian claim that Russia fired an ICBM for the first time during the war, targeting the city of Dnipro, but Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has insisted the speed and altitude of the missile matched the characteristics of an ICBM

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Nine projectiles were launched at enterprises and critical infrastructure in Dnipro between 5am and 7am local time from the Astrakhan region of Russia, the air forces said, meaning that, if confirmed, the missile probably travelled about 500 miles (800km) to reach its target. The missile was said to have hit “without consequences” Ukraine’s air force said

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Russia has not officially acknowledged the use of an ICBM, and its defence ministry omitted any reference to it in its daily briefing

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The UK prime minister’s spokesperson has said British intelligence services are “urgently” looking into the reports

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In Ukraine Zelenskyy has attended a commemoration ceremony dedicated to those killed during the 2013-2014 Euromaidan protests, which started on 21 November 2023

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The head of Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhii Lysak, said 17 people were wounded in a Russian strike on Kryvyi Rih

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The defence ministers of South Korea and Japan have both condemned North Korea’s dispatch of troops to Russia during talks on Thursday

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The EU’s top official on migration has said she is concerned about the security implications of nearly half a million visas that were issued to Russian citizens to visit Europe in 2023

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Hungary announced overnight it is to install an air defence system in the north-eastern part of the country as the threat of an escalation of the Ukraine-Russia war is “greater than ever”, its defence minister said

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In a statement on social media Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that the speed and altitude of a missile fired at Dnipro had indicated it was an ICBM, but said “examinations are now under way.”

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In the message, posted to coincide with the anniversary of the 21 November beginning of the Euromaidan protests in 2013, Zelenskyy described Russia as Ukraine’s “crazy neighbour”, saying:

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[Putin] is so afraid that he is already using new missiles. And he is looking around the world for other places to find weapons: now in Iran, now in North Korea.

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It is obvious that Putin is using Ukraine as a training ground. It is obvious that Putin is afraid when there is simply a normal life around him. When people just have dignity. When the country simply wants to be and has the right to be independent.

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Putin is doing everything he can to prevent his neighbour from slipping out of his hands. And I thank all Ukrainian men, all Ukrainian women who protect Ukraine from this evil – steadfastly, bravely, firmly. Worthily. This is one of the main words about Ukraine – dignity. And this is a word that will probably never be said about Russia.

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The UK prime minister’s spokesperson has said British intelligence services are “urgently” looking into reports that Russia launched an ICBM at Ukraine during an attack on Dnipro.

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The claim was made by Ukraine’s military. Russia has yet to confirm or deny the report, but a western official, speaking to ABC News, has cast doubt on the claim.

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It would have been the first time an ICBM was fired during war. The missiles have ranges of about 6000km, in order to allow Russia and the US to strike at each other directly. If it had been fired from the Astrakhan region of Russia, it would have travelled about 500 miles (800km) to reach its target.

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Speaking anonymously but on the record, the spokesperson for Keir Starmer said:

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As you will understand it is a rapidly developing situation and I don’t want to get ahead of our intelligence services who are looking at these reports urgently, but if true, clearly this would be another example of grave, reckless and escalatory behaviour from Russia and only serves to strengthen our resolve.

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PA Media reports that asked if they could confirm reports UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles had been fired into Russia by Ukraine, the spokesperson said: “It is still the case that we are not going to comment on operational matters. That will only serve president Putin.”

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Defence secretary John Healey made a similar point earlier when he also refused to be drawn on the question when asked by MPs during a defence select committee appearance.

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Speaking in the House of Commons, Starmer on Thursday promised that the UK “will back Ukraine with what is needed for as long as it’s needed.”

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He told MPs:

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UK support for Ukraine is always for self-defence. It is proportionate, coordinated and agile and a response to Russia’s own actions, and it is in accordance with international law under Article 51 of the UN Charter. Ukraine has a clear right of self-defence against Russia’s illegal attacks.

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Dan Sabbagh’s report this morning on the Ukrainian claim – dismissed by one western official – that Russia used an ICBM against Dnipro includes this detail about ICBMs and their historical development. He writes:

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Russian ICBMs have ranges of more than 6,200 miles, in theory enough to reach the US east coast from Astrakhan, and are capable of being nuclear armed, suggesting that if the use of the weapon is confirmed it was a signal from Moscow.

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ICBMs were developed in the 1950s, at the height of the cold war, as a way for the Soviet Union and the US to threaten each other’s populations directly with nuclear weapons. Congressional research estimates that Russia has 326 ICBMs in its nuclear arsenal, but no country had fired one in a war before.

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As Associated Press has also noted, the range of an ICBM “would seem excessive for use against Ukraine”. Ukrainian media sources have claimed to identified the type of missile used as a RS-26 Rubezh, with a range of 5,800km. Astrakhan and Dnipro are about 700km apart.

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Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the specific ICBM reports at his daily press briefing, but ABC News has reported that a western official has described the claim as an exaggeration, stating the weapon used was in fact a shorter-range ballistic missile, similar to the types used repeatedly by Russia against Ukraine during the war.

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The UK prime minister has reiterated to parliament in London that the country “will back Ukraine with what is needed for as long as it’s needed.”

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Keir Starmer told MPs:

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We have consistently said we will do what it takes to support Ukraine and put it in the best possible position going into the winter. UK support for Ukraine is always for self defence.

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It is proportionate, co-ordinated and agile and a response to Russia’s own actions, and it is in accordance with international law under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

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Ukraine has a clear right of self defence against Russia’s illegal attacks.

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So, I say again, Russia could roll back their forces and end this war tomorrow, but until then, we will stand up for what we know is right, for Ukraine’s security and for our own security, and we will back Ukraine with what is needed for as long as it’s needed.

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Starmer said that he was proud of parliament that it had shown unified cross-party support for Ukraine for over 1,000 days of the conflict.

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The recently installed leader of the Conservative opposition party, Kemi Badenoch, said:

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Ukraine is in a fight for its survival, and the people of Ukraine are in our thoughts daily. But those thoughts must translate into action, action from us and from our allies. We will work with the government to ensure British support for Ukraine is steadfast and continues.

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A western official, speaking to ABC News in the US, has denied the Ukrainian claim that an ICBM was used by Russia overnight.

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The network reports “It was instead a ballistic missile, which was aimed at Dnipro, in Ukraine’s southeast, the western official said.”

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More details soon …

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Kremlin spokesperson Dimtry Peskov has said Russia is committed to avoiding nuclear war, but the west has a responsibility not to engage in “provocative actions.”

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Tass quotes him, in his daily media briefing, saying:

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We have emphasised in the context of our nuclear doctrine that Russia takes a responsible position in terms of making maximum efforts to prevent such a [nuclear] conflict. We expect that other countries will also take the same responsible position and not engage in provocative actions.

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Ukraine this week used US and British manufactured longer-range missiles inside Russia for the first time. Earlier this week Vladimir Putin approved a revised Russian nuclear doctrine, which included the provision that if a non-nuclear power attacked Russia with the assistance of a nuclear power, that would meet the threshold for a nuclear response.

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Jennifer Rankin is the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent

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The EU’s top official on migration has said she is concerned about the nearly half a million visas that were issued to Russian citizens to visit Europe in 2023.

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Ylva Johansson, who is standing down as the EU’s migration and home affairs commissioner at the end of the month, told journalists the guidelines might need to be “a bit sharper”

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In 2023 the states in Europe’s border-free Schengen zone issued 448,890 visas to Russian nationals.

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Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU froze a visa-facilitation deal with Moscow that has resulted in a 90% fall in visas issued to Russian nationals, when compared with 2019, before Covid disrupted international travel.

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Johansson said the number of visas issued in 2023 was “a significant number [and] that concerns me”. She is worried about potential security threats, in the context of growing reports of sabotage and espionage, such as arson attacks, the posting of incendiary devices and an assassination plot targeting the head of a German defence company.

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In 2023, Italy, France, Spain and Greece, countries with large tourism industries, processed more than 80% of visa applications from Russia.

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Johansson said she had initiated a review of the Russian visa guidelines, although it would fall to her successor, Magnus Brunner, to make a decision.

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Her review, she said, would need to find out whether member states implemented the guidelines in the same way. She suggested changes could be likely: “Does this call for, you know, some revision? That’s my guess. But it’s for my successor to decide, of course, after we have finalised this assessment.”

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The Swedish commissioner has also been investigating complaints from EU member states that Hungary is undermining European security, following Budapest’s decision to make it easier for Russians and Belarussians to obtain work permits, which grants them access to the entire Schengen zone.

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Hungary, she said, had “clarified” most of the commission’s questions and it seemed “very, very few people” were using this new scheme. But she added: “I still think, for political reasons, it is the wrong signal to send.”

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Ukraine’s military has claimed that overnight Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time during the war.

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Ukraine’s air force said the launch took place from the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation, an area to the south-east of Vologograd, which borders on the Caspian Sea.

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Ukraine said overnight attacks by Russia targeted “enterprises and critical infrastructure in the central-eastern city of Dnipro.”

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The air force gave no details of any casualties or damage, or whether air defence had tackled the ICBM. Ukraine’s military said six Kh-101 cruise missiles were shot down. The claims have not been independently verified.

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ICBMs have a range of thousands of kilometres, and can carry either conventional or nuclear payloads.

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Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has described the “resilience plan” announced earlier this week by Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a set of “sick fantasies.”

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Tass reports that Zakharova said:

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This is another set of sick fantasies aimed at ensuring the self-preservation of Zelenskyy, who has lost his legitimacy in power. In fact, it seems to me that he himself does not hide this. He declared in his parliament that there will be no elections in Ukraine until the end of the war.

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On Tuesday Zelenskyy presented a ten point plan for the continuation of Ukraine’s defence against the Russian invasion of February 2022.

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Ukraine’s military claims overnight to have shot down six cruise missiles fired at the country by Russia.

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Ukraine claims in addition that intercontinental ballistic missile was fired from Russia’s Astrakhan region, which is to the south-east of Volgograd, and borders the Caspian Sea.

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The claims have not been independently verified.

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Welcome to our continuing live coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Here are the latest headlines.

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Ukraine has fired a volley of British Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russia – the latest new western weapon it has been permitted to use on targets inside Russia. The move comes a day after it fired US Atacms missiles.

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The strikes on Wednesday were widely reported on Telegram by Russian war correspondents – who posted video they said included the sound of the missiles hitting the Kursk region bordering north-eastern Ukraine – and were confirmed to the Guardian.

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The UK’s decision to approve the strikes was made in response to the deployment of more than 10,000 North Korean troops on Russia’s border with Ukraine in what British and American officials have called a major escalation of the war.

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Meanwhile, the US said it would reopen its embassy in Kyiv on Thursday, a day after shutting it as a precaution because of what it called the threat of a “significant air attack”.

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shot of the US flag being raised outside its embassy in Kyiv”,”caption”:”File shot of the US flag being raised outside its embassy in the Ukrainian capital.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Oleg Petrasyuk/EPA”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

And the US defence secretary said Washington’s decision to send anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine – a major policy shift condemned by rights groups – was triggered by a change in Russian battlefield tactics favouring infantry over mechanised units. Lloyd Austin said Ukrainian forces “have a need for things that can help slow down that effort on the part of the Russians”.

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In other news:

“,”elementId”:”0d28eed8-9dd6-46dd-ae91-32560f5e712a”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

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  The director of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, Sergey Naryshkin, was quoted in Russian media on Wednesday as saying that attempts by Nato countries to strike inside Russia would not go “unpunished”. Elsewhere, the chief of staff in Belarus, Pavel Muraveiko, described US moves to allow Ukraine to deploy longer-range missiles and anti-personnel mines as “irresponsible”

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  Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked the US and President Joe Biden for the provision of landmines to Ukrainian troops, calling it “essential … to stop Russian assaults”, in a video address on Wednesday. In addition to the landmines, the latest $275m US aid package includes drones, Himars ammunitions and artillery. The Biden administration also moved to forgive about $4.7bn in US loans to Ukraine, the state department said, as outgoing officials seek to do what they can before leaving office to bolster Ukraine in the war

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  Staff at Ireland’s embassy in Ukraine were told to work from home after the US shut its embassy, while Italy, Spain and Greece also closed their embassies

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  About 10,900 North Korean troops have been deployed to Kursk as part of Russia’s airborne unit and marines, with some already participating in battles in the Ukraine war, a South Korean legislator said on Wednesday, citing the country’s spy agency. North Korea had also shipped additional arms for the war, including self-propelled howitzers and multiple rocket launchers, parliament intelligence committee member Lee Seong-kweun told reporters

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  Four Latin American countries have made a joint call to “avoid actions that would escalate the arms race” in the Russia-Ukraine war. The four – Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico – said such actions would “aggravate the conflict”

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Summary of the day

• A western official has cast doubt on a Ukrainian claim that Russia fired an ICBM for the first time during the war, targeting the city of Dnipro, but Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has insisted the speed and altitude of the missile matched the characteristics of an ICBM

• Nine projectiles were launched at enterprises and critical infrastructure in Dnipro between 5am and 7am local time from the Astrakhan region of Russia, the air forces said, meaning that, if confirmed, the missile probably travelled about 500 miles (800km) to reach its target. The missile was said to have hit “without consequences” Ukraine’s air force said

• Russia has not officially acknowledged the use of an ICBM, and its defence ministry omitted any reference to it in its daily briefing

• The UK prime minister’s spokesperson has said British intelligence services are “urgently” looking into the reports

• In Ukraine Zelenskyy has attended a commemoration ceremony dedicated to those killed during the 2013-2014 Euromaidan protests, which started on 21 November 2023

• The head of Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhii Lysak, said 17 people were wounded in a Russian strike on Kryvyi Rih

• The defence ministers of South Korea and Japan have both condemned North Korea’s dispatch of troops to Russia during talks on Thursday

• The EU’s top official on migration has said she is concerned about the security implications of nearly half a million visas that were issued to Russian citizens to visit Europe in 2023

• Hungary announced overnight it is to install an air defence system in the north-eastern part of the country as the threat of an escalation of the Ukraine-Russia war is “greater than ever”, its defence minister said

Zelenskyy says Ukraine investigating missile after speed and altitude indicated it was an ICBM

In a statement on social media Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that the speed and altitude of a missile fired at Dnipro had indicated it was an ICBM, but said “examinations are now under way.”

In the message, posted to coincide with the anniversary of the 21 November beginning of the Euromaidan protests in 2013, Zelenskyy described Russia as Ukraine’s “crazy neighbour”, saying:

[Putin] is so afraid that he is already using new missiles. And he is looking around the world for other places to find weapons: now in Iran, now in North Korea.

It is obvious that Putin is using Ukraine as a training ground. It is obvious that Putin is afraid when there is simply a normal life around him. When people just have dignity. When the country simply wants to be and has the right to be independent.

Putin is doing everything he can to prevent his neighbour from slipping out of his hands. And I thank all Ukrainian men, all Ukrainian women who protect Ukraine from this evil – steadfastly, bravely, firmly. Worthily. This is one of the main words about Ukraine – dignity. And this is a word that will probably never be said about Russia.

Downing Street: UK intelligence services looking ‘urgently’ at Ukrainian claim Russia fired an ICBM

The UK prime minister’s spokesperson has said British intelligence services are “urgently” looking into reports that Russia launched an ICBM at Ukraine during an attack on Dnipro.

The claim was made by Ukraine’s military. Russia has yet to confirm or deny the report, but a western official, speaking to ABC News, has cast doubt on the claim.

It would have been the first time an ICBM was fired during war. The missiles have ranges of about 6000km, in order to allow Russia and the US to strike at each other directly. If it had been fired from the Astrakhan region of Russia, it would have travelled about 500 miles (800km) to reach its target.

Speaking anonymously but on the record, the spokesperson for Keir Starmer said:

As you will understand it is a rapidly developing situation and I don’t want to get ahead of our intelligence services who are looking at these reports urgently, but if true, clearly this would be another example of grave, reckless and escalatory behaviour from Russia and only serves to strengthen our resolve.

PA Media reports that asked if they could confirm reports UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles had been fired into Russia by Ukraine, the spokesperson said: “It is still the case that we are not going to comment on operational matters. That will only serve president Putin.”

Defence secretary John Healey made a similar point earlier when he also refused to be drawn on the question when asked by MPs during a defence select committee appearance.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Starmer on Thursday promised that the UK “will back Ukraine with what is needed for as long as it’s needed.”

He told MPs:

UK support for Ukraine is always for self-defence. It is proportionate, coordinated and agile and a response to Russia’s own actions, and it is in accordance with international law under Article 51 of the UN Charter. Ukraine has a clear right of self-defence against Russia’s illegal attacks.

Pjotr Sauer

Pavel Podvig, a leading expert on Russian nuclear weapons, said there was not yet enough information to determine whether the weapon used was an ICBM or not.

“One must be skeptical and cautious,” he posted on Bluesky. Using an ICBM would not make military sense because of their low accuracy and high cost, he added, though he wrote “this kind of a strike might have a value as a signal”.

Pjotr Sauer

Russia has not officially acknowledged the use of an intercontinental ballistic missile, with the country’s defence ministry omitting any reference to it in its daily briefing.

The country’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova appeared to inadvertently reveal some details about the early morning strike during a live press briefing on Thursday.

A hot mic captured Zakharova’s phone conversation with an unidentified caller, who instructed her not to comment “on the ballistic missile strike.” Notably, the caller did not use the word intercontinental.

In the brief telephone exchange – footage of which at present remains available on the foreign ministry’s official account on X – the caller also appears to disclose that the strike targeted the Yuzhmash military facility in Dnipro.

An agreement between the US and Russia, signed in 2000, in theory provides that each side should notify the other at least 24 hours ahead of any planned missile launch in excess of 500km, greater than the distance involved. It is unclear if any such notification was made.

In Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has attended a commemoration ceremony dedicated to those killed during the 2013-2014 Euromaidan protests, which started on 21 November 2023.

The head of Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhii Lysak, has updated the number of people injured in Kryvyi Rih to 17. An administration building and two residential buildings were reportedly hit in a Russian strike.

Also in parliament in London today, defence secretary John Healey has been appearing before defence select committee, where he refused to be drawn on whether the UK had given approval for the use of Storm Shadow missiles against targets on Russian soil.

He told the committee:

This is a serious moment that I come before the committee. Defence intelligence will reveal today that the front line is now less stable than at any time since the early days of the full scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

And we’ve seen in recent weeks a very clear escalation from Putin and his forces. They’ve stepped up attacks on the energy system in Ukraine ahead of winter. They’ve stepped up attacks on civilian centres, killing children. [And] they’ve deployed at least 10,000 North Korean troops to the battle.

Be in no doubt that the UK government is stepping up our support for Ukraine, is determined to continue doubling down our support for Ukraine, and this is what I told [Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem] Umarov in a long call on Tuesday.

And as I told you and the house yesterday, it holds for this committee as well, I won’t be drawn on the operational details of the conflict. It risks operational security, and in the end, the only one that benefits from such a public debate is President Putin.

You can watch the full clip of his answer on Ukraine here:

What is an ICBM?

Dan Sabbagh’s report this morning on the Ukrainian claim – dismissed by one western official – that Russia used an ICBM against Dnipro includes this detail about ICBMs and their historical development. He writes:

Russian ICBMs have ranges of more than 6,200 miles, in theory enough to reach the US east coast from Astrakhan, and are capable of being nuclear armed, suggesting that if the use of the weapon is confirmed it was a signal from Moscow.

ICBMs were developed in the 1950s, at the height of the cold war, as a way for the Soviet Union and the US to threaten each other’s populations directly with nuclear weapons. Congressional research estimates that Russia has 326 ICBMs in its nuclear arsenal, but no country had fired one in a war before.

As Associated Press has also noted, the range of an ICBM “would seem excessive for use against Ukraine”. Ukrainian media sources have claimed to identified the type of missile used as a RS-26 Rubezh, with a range of 5,800km. Astrakhan and Dnipro are about 700km apart.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the specific ICBM reports at his daily press briefing, but ABC News has reported that a western official has described the claim as an exaggeration, stating the weapon used was in fact a shorter-range ballistic missile, similar to the types used repeatedly by Russia against Ukraine during the war.

Starmer: UK support of Ukraine is ‘proportionate’ and in accordance with international law

The UK prime minister has reiterated to parliament in London that the country “will back Ukraine with what is needed for as long as it’s needed.”

Keir Starmer told MPs:

We have consistently said we will do what it takes to support Ukraine and put it in the best possible position going into the winter. UK support for Ukraine is always for self defence.

It is proportionate, co-ordinated and agile and a response to Russia’s own actions, and it is in accordance with international law under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

Ukraine has a clear right of self defence against Russia’s illegal attacks.

So, I say again, Russia could roll back their forces and end this war tomorrow, but until then, we will stand up for what we know is right, for Ukraine’s security and for our own security, and we will back Ukraine with what is needed for as long as it’s needed.

Starmer said that he was proud of parliament that it had shown unified cross-party support for Ukraine for over 1,000 days of the conflict.

The recently installed leader of the Conservative opposition party, Kemi Badenoch, said:

Ukraine is in a fight for its survival, and the people of Ukraine are in our thoughts daily. But those thoughts must translate into action, action from us and from our allies. We will work with the government to ensure British support for Ukraine is steadfast and continues.

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that 15 people, including two children, have been wounded in Kryvyi Rih. The sound of explosions was reported there about two hours ago.

More details soon …

Western official denies Ukrainian claim that Russia fired an ICBM – reports

A western official, speaking to ABC News in the US, has denied the Ukrainian claim that an ICBM was used by Russia overnight.

The network reports “It was instead a ballistic missile, which was aimed at Dnipro, in Ukraine’s southeast, the western official said.”

More details soon …

Kremlin: Russia seeks to avid nuclear war but west has responsibility to avoid ‘provocative actions’

Kremlin spokesperson Dimtry Peskov has said Russia is committed to avoiding nuclear war, but the west has a responsibility not to engage in “provocative actions.”

Tass quotes him, in his daily media briefing, saying:

We have emphasised in the context of our nuclear doctrine that Russia takes a responsible position in terms of making maximum efforts to prevent such a [nuclear] conflict. We expect that other countries will also take the same responsible position and not engage in provocative actions.

Ukraine this week used US and British manufactured longer-range missiles inside Russia for the first time. Earlier this week Vladimir Putin approved a revised Russian nuclear doctrine, which included the provision that if a non-nuclear power attacked Russia with the assistance of a nuclear power, that would meet the threshold for a nuclear response.

The defence ministers of South Korea and Japan have both condemned North Korea’s dispatch of troops to Russia during talks on Thursday, Reuters reports Seoul’s defence ministry said in a statement.

British MP and leader of the Reform UK party Nigel Farage has questioned whether it is the right decision to allow Ukraine to use longer-range British and US-manufactured weapons, saying “the idea Ukraine is going to win, frankly, is for the birds.”

Farage, who has repeatedly allied himself with US president-elect Donald Trump, told viewers of the GB News channel:

In the last few days, British long range Storm Shadow missiles have been fired very deep into Russia. The same has happened with American missiles.

Farage said “I do wonder, right at this time whether it’s the wise thing to do,” contining:

In Westminster … everybody still seems to think that we give Ukraine enough weaponry that somehow they’re going to win this war.

I worry, because I think the idea Ukraine is going to win, frankly, is for the birds. I think the war has gone on for long enough and that the casualties are massive. I think all we’re doing is helping to prolong a stalemate.

Farage questioned whether the change of strategy fitted with the plans of the incoming US administration, telling viewers of the GB News channel:

Donald Trump, in 59 days’ time, will be in the White House. He is committed to negotiating a peace settlement. No one quite knows what that might look like, but that is what he’s committed to do. Is the use of American and British long-range missiles going to help him in that process or make it more difficult?

Earlier this year Farage said Nato and the EU had provoked the conflict in Ukraine.

EU commissioner ‘concerned’ about security implications of Russian visas

Jennifer Rankin

Jennifer Rankin is the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent

The EU’s top official on migration has said she is concerned about the nearly half a million visas that were issued to Russian citizens to visit Europe in 2023.

Ylva Johansson, who is standing down as the EU’s migration and home affairs commissioner at the end of the month, told journalists the guidelines might need to be “a bit sharper”

In 2023 the states in Europe’s border-free Schengen zone issued 448,890 visas to Russian nationals.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU froze a visa-facilitation deal with Moscow that has resulted in a 90% fall in visas issued to Russian nationals, when compared with 2019, before Covid disrupted international travel.

Johansson said the number of visas issued in 2023 was “a significant number [and] that concerns me”. She is worried about potential security threats, in the context of growing reports of sabotage and espionage, such as arson attacks, the posting of incendiary devices and an assassination plot targeting the head of a German defence company.

In 2023, Italy, France, Spain and Greece, countries with large tourism industries, processed more than 80% of visa applications from Russia.

Johansson said she had initiated a review of the Russian visa guidelines, although it would fall to her successor, Magnus Brunner, to make a decision.

Her review, she said, would need to find out whether member states implemented the guidelines in the same way. She suggested changes could be likely: “Does this call for, you know, some revision? That’s my guess. But it’s for my successor to decide, of course, after we have finalised this assessment.”

The Swedish commissioner has also been investigating complaints from EU member states that Hungary is undermining European security, following Budapest’s decision to make it easier for Russians and Belarussians to obtain work permits, which grants them access to the entire Schengen zone.

Hungary, she said, had “clarified” most of the commission’s questions and it seemed “very, very few people” were using this new scheme. But she added: “I still think, for political reasons, it is the wrong signal to send.”

Russian air defences shot down two British Storm Shadow cruise missiles, Russia’s defence ministry said on Thursday, according to news agency Interfax.

It comes after Ukraine fired British Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time on Wednesday, as confirmed by The Guardian yesterday.

The Kremlin declined to comment on those strikes, saying that it was a question for the Russian military.