Ukraine says Russian ICBM strikes Dnipro, a claim denied by Western official

LONDON and KYIV -- Russia on Thursday launched an intercontinental ballistic missile toward Ukraine, officials in Kyiv said, but a Western official told ABC News that the attack did not appear to be an ICBM.

It was instead a ballistic missile, which was aimed at Dnipro, in Ukraine's southeast, the Western official said.

A Ukrainian official told ABC News Ukraine's military were "95% sure" the strike was with an ICBM, but added that they were still examining the missile parts on the ground and had not yet reached a final conclusion.

The claim was not immediately confirmed by Moscow, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declining to comment, saying questions about it should be instead directed to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The Ukrainian Air Force announced on Thursday morning that it had tracked the launch of the ICBM, along with six additional missiles, all of which were targeting the Dnipro region. The ICBM appeared to have been launched from the Astrahan region, in Russia's southwest, Ukrainian military officials said.

All of the missiles were launched in about two hours, beginning at about 5 a.m., Ukraine said.

All were targeted at businesses and critical infrastructure, but only the missile that Ukraine identified as an ICBM struck the city, Ukraine said. The six other missiles were shot down. There were no reports of casualties or significant damage, officials said.

The launch of an ICBM, if confirmed, would arrive amid concerns that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could further escalate. Ukraine's military this week first launched U.S.-made ATACMS missiles toward targets within Russia, days after U.S. President Joe Biden allowed for such use of the long-range weapons.

Kyiv launched on Tuesday six of the ATACMS at targets within Russian territory, according the Russian Defense Ministry.

Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelenskyysaid he would not confirm if Ukraine had used ATACMS to conduct a strike on an ammunition depot in the Bryansk region of Russia, but said Ukraine has ATACMS and "will use all of these," against Russia.

Within hours of Russia announcing it had struck down five of the ATACMS on Tuesday, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had updated the country's nuclear doctrine, a move that lowered the bar for Russia to response with nuclear weapons. Russian ICBMs are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, although it appeared the missile fired on Thursday was not.

Following that warning, Ukraine on Wednesday fired long-range British Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russia for the first time, a Ukrainian military unit involved in the operation told ABC News. At least 10 of those missiles hit an estate in the village of Marino, the unit said.

They were targeting a command post where North Korean army generals and officers were present, the unit said. More than 10,000 North Korean troops are said to be operating alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region.

Ukraine's 413th Separate Unmanned Systems Battalion, which helped provide fire control for the strikes, told ABC News that there was intelligence showing high-ranking North Koreans were present.

ABC News' Joe Simonetti, Lauren Minore, Yulia Drozd and Natasha Popova contributed to this report.