Russia’s use of intermediate-range ballistic missile widely condemned; Zelenskyy says latest strike a ‘severe escalation’

• Putin says Russia fired experimental ballistic missile into Ukraine

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has issued a statement on X after Vladimir Putin said Russian forces had hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipro with a new experimental mid-range ballistic missile.

The Russian leader has “admitted” to taking a step “toward escalating and expanding this war” by using a new ballistic missile on Ukraine, Zelenskyy wrote.

Putin struck our city of Dnipro, one of Ukraine’s largest cities. This is a clear and severe escalation in the scale and brutality of this war — a cynical violation of the UN Charter by Russia.

Putin alone started this war—an entirely unprovoked war — and he is doing everything to prolong it, now for over a thousand days.