Russia ‘fires first intercontinental ballistic missile’ in combat history

The Kremlin has refused to comment on the reports

The air force says Dnipro was targeted with "various types of missiles" on Thursday morning (November 21).

Six of the missiles were shot down, the air force said.

If this is confirmed, it would be the first time Russia has launched an ICBM towards Ukraine during the war and the first time an ICBM has been launched in anger during a conflict, the BBC reports.

The Kremlin has refused to comment on the reports, with Russia's Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters he had "nothing to say on this topic".

ICBMs are missiles that can travel more than 5,500 km (3,418 miles) at high speed, meaning they can target pretty much location in the world and are difficult to intercept. Along with transporting conventional weapons and explosives, the missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

These weapons were developed during the Cold War, with the USA, Russia and a handful of other nations having them in their arsenals.

Some doubt has been cast on Ukraine's claims though, with some media quoting an unnamed Western official who suggested it was a ballistic missile that was fired and not an intercontinental one.

The reports come after Ukraine was given permission to fire US-supplied longer range missiles, called ATACMS, at Russia.

This was followed by reports on Wednesday that UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles had been used on Russian targets by Ukraine.

Russian president Vladimir Putin responded to the reported use of UK and US-supplied weapons by updating Russia's nuclear doctrine, lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.

It's two-and-a-half years since Russian troops invaded Ukraine, with the two sides having been engaged in a bloody and brutal conflict ever since.