Russia launched a wave of missile strikes on Ukraine Thursday, marking its first major retaliation for Ukraine’s attack earlier in the week on a military facility in Russia’s Bryansk region. The Ukrainian assault involved the use of American-made ATACMS missiles, which President Joe Biden had authorized just two days earlier, permitting Ukrainian forces to strike deeper into Russian territory.
Moscow had repeatedly warned the U.S. and its NATO allies against enabling Ukraine to use Western missiles in attacks on Russian soil. President Biden’s decision to approve such strikes ignited fierce reactions from Russian lawmakers and state-controlled media, which accused the U.S. of escalating the conflict and risking a broader war. In contrast, the U.S. and its allies have maintained that Russia is the one escalating the war by initiating the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and relying on foreign troops, such as recent reinforcements from North Korea.
Despite these tensions, Moscow had little choice but to respond to Ukraine’s use of the ATACMS. Following air raid sirens across Ukraine on Wednesday and warnings from the U.S. about the possibility of a significant Russian airstrike, the retaliation came overnight, with Russian missiles hitting multiple cities, with Dnipro in central-eastern Ukraine suffering the heaviest damage. The Ukrainian Air Force claimed that this marked the first use of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by Russia in the war, although a U.S. official later contradicted this, confirming that a ballistic missile, not an ICBM, had been used.
Despite the U.S. officials’ denial, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted that the missile used in the Dnipro strike had the characteristics of an ICBM, although he called for an investigation to confirm the exact type of missile. Zelenskyy accused Russia of using Ukraine as a “testing ground” for new weapons.
The Russian missile attack, which also involved the use of a Kinzhal hypersonic missile and several cruise missiles, resulted in significant damage to an industrial facility and sparked fires, leaving at least 15 people injured, according to Dnipro’s regional governor. Ukrainian air defenses shot down six of the Russian missiles.
The strike on Dnipro followed a tense Wednesday in Kyiv, where air raid alarms forced residents, including a CBS News team, to seek shelter in underground parking lots and metro stations. Though no missiles landed on that day, the threat created widespread fear and anxiety, underscoring the ongoing psychological toll of the war on Ukrainians.
Major Taras Berezovets of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense force told CBS News that Russia’s constant threats and missile strikes were aimed at wearing down Ukrainian resolve, attempting to make Ukrainians believe that resistance to Russia’s invasion is futile.
As the conflict nears its third year, there are growing concerns in Ukraine and Europe about the future of U.S. support, particularly with the potential return of President Donald Trump to office in January. Many fear that Trump may reduce U.S. aid to Ukraine, forcing President Zelenskyy into a compromise with Russia that could involve ceding territory to Putin’s forces.