Tit-for-tat moves this week included the use of American-made ballistic missiles to strike inside Russia, and new nuclear threats from Moscow. Neither appear to have influenced the war on the ground.

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.

The Ukrainian Air Force claims that Russia launched a conventionally armed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) today at the city of Dnipro, in the center of the country. In either case, the act is unprecedented for the war in Ukraine and it would mark the first use of either one of these types of weapons in combat anywhere.