Russian missile strike claims spark controversy in Ukraine
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that during Thursday's attack on Ukraine, Russia used, among other things, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). However, conclusive evidence is still lacking to confirm this. Videos have emerged online purportedly showing the moment of the ballistic missile attack, but doubts exist concerning their authenticity.
According to the Ukrainians, the intercontinental ballistic missile was launched on Thursday morning from the Astrakhan region over the Caspian Sea. Theoretically, such a missile can carry nuclear warheads and has a range of up to 6,000 kilometres.
The Ukrainian side has not disclosed the type of ballistic missile the Russians launched or whether it hit the target. It is only known that the morning's massive missile strike targeted the city of Dnipro in the southeast part of the country.
A video allegedly showing the moment the ballistic missile warheads impacted was shared on the platform X by journalist and military analyst Jarosław Wolski. However, the quality is too low to be considered definitive evidence.
Questions arise after Ukrainians' reports. "Several questions arise"
"Six series of strikes by 'something', where several questions immediately arise: each series shows the fall of many fragments or smaller warheads. So either the warheads began to disintegrate in the terminal phase of the attack, there were many heavy decoys, or more than one ICBM was used," Wolski wrote.
Doubts also come from the lack of visible explosions in the recording when the missiles hit the ground.
Reports that it was an intercontinental ballistic missile are also denied by ABC News, citing information from a Western official.
If the Ukrainian army's claims were confirmed, it would be the first instance of using an intercontinental missile in the ongoing war with Russia.
Source: WP Wiadomości/x.com/PAP
