WATCH LIVE: Pentagon holds news briefing as Ukraine says Russia launched intercontinental missile

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine claimed Thursday that Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile overnight at one of its cities, but American officials said an initial U.S. assessment indicated the strike was carried out with an intermediate-range ballistic missile.
Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh is expected to hold a news briefing at 2:30 p.m. ET. Watch in the player above.
Ukraine did not provide any evidence that an ICBM was used in the attack on the central city of Dnipro, apparently armed with conventional warheads.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a missile used “matches the speed and altitude” of an ICBM. The Kremlin refused to comment on the strike.
But an initial U.S. assessment shows the strike came from an intermediate-range ballistic missile not an ICBM, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly about it. A third U.S. official also said it did not appear to be an ICBM.
The attack comes in a week when tensions have repeatedly soared, as the U.S. eased restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American-made longer-range missiles inside Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold for launching nuclear weapons.
The range of an ICBM — which can exceed 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) — is beyond what is needed to attack Ukraine. But such missiles are designed to carry atomic warheads, and the use of one, even with a conventional payload, would serve as a chilling reminder of Russia’s nuclear capability. It also appears to send a message to Ukraine’s Western allies that Moscow has the ability to target them.
If confirmed, it would be the first time Moscow has used such a weapon in the war.
In a statement Thursday on the Telegram messaging app, Ukraine’s air force said an intercontinental ballistic missile was fired at Dnipro, along with eight other missiles, and that the Ukrainian military shot down six of them.
Two people were wounded in the attack, and an industrial facility and a rehabilitation center for people with disabilities were damaged, according to local officials.