The Pentagon says the Oreshnik is a tweak of Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh missile, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that has been tested since 2011.

Russia named the missile the Oreshnik, or hazel tree, and said it is impossible to intercept it with air defenses.

This is the first time Russia has used its so-called Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile in combat. The launch also serves as a warning to the West.

President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia will continue to test and start mass-producing the hypersonic ballistic missile that it fired at Ukraine Thursday.

Russia fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday in response to the U.S. and UK's allowing Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced Western weapons,

The escalatory attack comes after Ukraine reportedly used US and UK long range missiles to strike targets inside Russia

Launching multiple Oreshnik missiles in a single attack would have destructive power similar to that of a nuclear weapon, the Russian president claimed.View on euronews

The new design is based on the previous RS-26 Rubezh ballistic missile, according to the Pentagon. Readers can get up to speed on what else is already known about the missile strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro in The War Zone‘s initial reporting here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to strike Ukraine again with a new nuclear-capable ballistic missile following Moscow's latest widespread attack on critical energy infrastructure.