Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Russia struck a Ukrainian city with a new intermediate-range ballistic missile. In a surprise address to the nation on state television, Putin stated that Moscow used a missile capable of striking targets at a speed of 2.5 to 3 km per second. This clarification contradicted earlier claims by Ukraine, which accused Russia of using an intercontinental ballistic missile in the attack.

President Putin explained that the strike followed Ukraine’s use of longer-range missiles, supplied by the US, UK, and France, to target Russian territory. He warned that Moscow reserves the right to strike military targets in countries that allow their weapons to be used against Russia. It is still unclear exactly what was damaged in the attack.

Meanwhile, Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh also confirmed that Russia’s missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate-range missile, based on its RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile.