UKRAINE accused Russia today of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile at the city of Dnipro, which would be the first time that Moscow has used such a missile in the war.

In a statement on the Telegram messaging app, the Ukrainian air force did not specify exactly the type of missile used but said it had been launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, which borders the Caspian Sea.

According to the statement, an intercontinental ballistic missile was fired at Dnipro, in the the country’s central-east region, along with eight other missiles. The air force claimed to have shot down six of the missiles.

Local officials said that two people had been wounded in the attack.

Two days earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine that formally lowers the threshold for the country’s use of nuclear weapons. 

On Tuesday, Ukraine fired several US-supplied longer-range missiles into Russia and the following day Kiev’s forces reportedly fired British-made Storm Shadows across the border.

A Russian Defence Ministry statement said today that its air defence systems had shot down two of the British-made missiles, six High Mobility Artillery Rocket System rocket and 67 drones. 

The statement did not say when or where this happened or what the missiles were targeting. This was not Moscow’s first public announcement of the shooting-down of Storm Shadow missiles, as it had earlier reported destroying some over the annexed Crimean peninsula.

Mr Putin has repeatedly warned the US and its Nato allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons to hit Russian territory would mean that his country and Nato are at war.

Moscow’s revised doctrine allows for a nuclear response to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power.

However, it is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons and keep Russia’s response options open.