The news of Russia fired “Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) on Ukraine” is doing rounds on the internet, and a video with “multiple lightening striking the surface” is being shared on X (formerly Twitter) to claim that ICBM was actually used to attack Ukraine.
But What is ICBM? The ICBM stands for Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, which is a long-range missile primarily designed to deliver nuclear warheads over vast distances, typically exceeding 5,500 kilometres (3,400 miles).
ICBMs are a critical component of a nation's strategic nuclear deterrence and are capable of striking targets across continents with high precision.
Kyiv claims that Russia used an intercontinental ballistic missile in an attack on Dnipro on Thursday.
The US and western officials say not ICBM, but ballistic missiles were used in the latest attacks.
Earlier, Russia threatened to use Nuclear weapons to defend Russia:
Russia said on Tuesday that Ukraine’s use of long-range Atacms missiles against its territory marked a “new phase of the western war” against Moscow, and vowed to react “accordingly”.
Russia’s defence ministry reported that Ukraine launched six US-made Atacms missiles targeting the south-western Bryansk region overnight. The ministry claimed that five of the missiles were shot down and another was damaged. The ministry added that debris from the rockets caused a fire at an unnamed military facility.
Following the first ever long range missile attack from Ukraine deep into Russian territory, with US made Atacms missiles. The attacks were carried out by Ukraine after US president Biden gave the green signal for the use of US made missiles to attack deeper Russian territory.
Kremlin issued a decree that revises Russian policies regarding the employment of nuclear weapons in war, the downgraded threshold now allows the use of nuclear weapons if, a conventional-weapons attack that creates a “critical threat” to Russian “sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The previous doctrine stated that the use of nuclear weapons permissible “if an attack on Russia threatens the very existence of the state.”
The new doctrine includes language that asserts that Russia “reserves the right” to use nuclear weapons to respond to any “critical threat.” Russian President Vladimir Putin telling a group of senior officials that Russia would consider using nuclear weapons if it was attacked by any state with conventional weapons. His remarks on Wednesday came during a meeting with Russia’s powerful security council, where he also announced changes to the country’s nuclear doctrine. The comments marked Russia’s strongest warning yet to the west against allowing Ukraine to launch deep strikes into Russian territory using long-range western missiles.
Entire western media filled with the “nuclear threats” headlines, the latest development further confuses the internet that what to make of these grim warnings coming from the Russia.
On the other hand, Ukraine seems to have become emboldened with the Biden issuing the permission to attack deep into Russia with western weapons.
Warning shots to West?
The strikes on Dnipro resulted in relatively low damage due to lack of explosives, the launch, and strikes are seen as a signal to NATO.
The foreign ministry in Kyiv says Ukraine believes Russia has used an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time in the war, but is still waiting for “experts” to confirm this.
What is ICBM:
Range: over 5,500 kilometres, capable of intercontinental strikes.
Warhead: Nuclear warhead capable alongside other conventional warheads.
Trajectory: Works just like a ballistic missile, with sub-orbital flight path, it travels through space, and re-enters the atmosphere to hit the target.
High accuracy: Has advanced guidance systems, satellite-based systems.
Only a few countries possess Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) as of now, this includes United States, Russia, China, North Korea, India, Iran, and some other countries possibly have these missiles.
The Russia-Ukraine war completes its 1000 days:
The Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to invade Ukraine on 24 February 2022, after it felt threatened by the NATO's “eastward expansion” plan and siting that Ukrainians are an essential part of Russia.
Russia demands an end to NATO’s eastward expansion, and rejects Ukrainian membership of the US-led Atlantic military alliance. Russia also rejects Ukraine's NATO membership bid.
Intense fighting has been going on for more than 2 years. The war has seen historical battles taking place in the Ukrainian regions, including, Battle of Bakhmut, Battle of Kyiv, Battle of Mariupol, Battle of Severodonetsk, Battle of Kherson, Battle of Vuhledar, Battle of Soledar.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reported in February that more than 10,200 civilians had been confirmed as killed in Ukraine, with nearly 20,000 injured.
More than 71,000 Russian soldiers have been identified and confirmed to have been killed in Ukraine, according to a late-September report by the independent Russian media outlet Mediazona.
According to Ukraine’s General Staff, as of October 1, more than 654,000 Russian personnel have died.
The Russian Ministry of Defence estimates that Kyiv has lost almost half a million men, according to a report published last month by the RT news website. However, according to Western estimates, some 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since February 2022.
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