President Vladimir Putin said Russia had tested a medium-range hypersonic missile in an attack on Ukraine.

Ukraine has accused Russia of launching a new type of missile at the city of Dnipro, as Moscow said it tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile in a strike on Ukraine, amid rising tensions in the more than two-year war.

Kiev said on Thursday that Russia had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) along with a missile barrage on the city in central Ukraine. Local authorities said the attack hit an infrastructure facility and wounded two civilians.

In a televised speech, President Vladimir Putin said Russia had tested an intermediate-range hypersonic missile in a strike on Ukraine in response to aggressive actions by NATO countries.

A US official was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying that Russia did not fire an ICBM but instead launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile, according to an assessment based on its initial analysis.

“Today was a new Russian missile. All the characteristics – speed, altitude – are (of an) intercontinental ballistic missile,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said in a video statement.

He said experts were examining evidence of the attack and accused Moscow of “using Ukraine as a testing ground”.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said the strike “proves that Russia is not seeking peace.”

“On the contrary, it is making every effort to expand the war,” he added.

Asked about the attack, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was working to avoid a nuclear conflict.

“We emphasized, in the context of our doctrine, that Russia takes a responsible position to make maximum efforts not to allow such a conflict,” Peskov said.

The attacks from Russia

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated in recent days after the US granted Ukraine permission to use long-range weapons to attack targets in Russia, a decision Ukraine had sought for months.

On Tuesday, Ukraine fired US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) missiles at targets in Russia for the first time.

Putin on Tuesday lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a wider range of conventional attacks.

On Wednesday, British media reported that Ukraine had launched long-range British Storm Shadow cruise missiles at targets in Russia. The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the use of missiles.

Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the opening of a new US missile defense base in Poland as “a provocative step in a series of deeply destabilizing actions by the Americans and their allies.”

“This leads to undermining strategic stability, increasing strategic risks and, as a result, an increase in the overall level of nuclear danger,” she said.

Poland rejected the idea that the base would be used for offensive purposes.

The escalation comes as Moscow’s forces have advanced deeper into eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Russia’s military announced Thursday that its forces had captured a village near Kurakhove, closing in on the town after months of steady advances.

Ukraine’s defensive lines are also cracking under Russian pressure across the front line.