This article is by Park Hyun-ju, Lee Yoo-jung, Lim Jeong-won and read by an artificial voice.



Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at Ukraine for the first time Thursday, according to media reports.

In a statement, the Ukrainian Air Force said a Russian attack on the city of Dnipro using cruise missiles was conducted between 5 and 7 a.m. and targeted enterprises and critical infrastructure, Reuters reported.

The ICBM was reportedly launched from Astrakhan, a Russian city near the Caspian Sea. Where it was targeted, what damage it inflicted and what kind of missile was used remains unclear. The Kremlin, when asked about the ICBM launch, said to "refer to the Defense Ministry" without elaborating further.

However, the British newspaper The Telegraph reported earlier that the Russian military was preparing to launch an RS-26 ICBM from a military base in Astrakhan toward Kyiv, citing a report by a Russian media outlet.

Germany's DPA news agency reported that air raid alerts sounded throughout Ukraine due to the ICBM launch by Russia early Thursday.

ICBMs can be equipped with nuclear or conventional warheads and have ranges of thousands of kilometers.

The launch comes after Russia responded to recent attacks on its territory with the American-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) by adjusting its nuclear doctrine to allow the use of nuclear weapons "against non-nuclear states that are supported by nuclear powers. "

Russia's decision, which shakes the "balance of terror" maintained since the Cold War, primarily targets the United States, Britain and France, which are established nuclear powers, as well as Ukraine, a non-nuclear state supported by those three nations.

Experts say South Korea, an ally of the United States, could also be included on Russia's list of nuclear targets if Seoul provides Kyiv with lethal weapons.

Following the ATACMS strike on Tuesday, Ukraine attacked Russian territory using British-supplied Storm Shadow air-to-ground missiles for the first time this week, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing a Western official.

The official, who requested anonymity in the Bloomberg report, explained that the British government had approved the use of the Storm Shadow in response to the North Korean military's deployment of troops to Russia. He added that the British government views the North Korean deployment as an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

The Telegraph also reported that fragments of Storm Shadow missiles were found in the village of Marino in the Kursk region of Russia, citing a Russian military blogger, on Wednesday. Kursk is the area where North Korean troops have been deployed.

Britain is believed to have followed suit and authorized the use of the Storm Shadow to attack internationally recognized Russian territory after the United States recently lifted restrictions on the use of ATACMS, with a range of about 300 kilometers (186 miles), on Russian territory.



The nuclear doctrine signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday includes a clause that defines an attack by a non-nuclear state supported by a nuclear state as "a joint attack with a nuclear state."

This means Russia could target all countries that are allied or cooperating with a nuclear state.

In addition to nuclear powers such as the United States, Britain and France that provide weapons to Ukraine, their North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies could also be included as nuclear attack targets, depending on the situation.

Some point out that even South Korea, an ally of the United States, is a "non-nuclear state receiving support from a nuclear power."

The South Korean government has not ruled out providing weapons to Ukraine in response to North Korea's dispatch of troops to Russia.

If Ukraine uses weapons provided by South Korea to attack Russia, Moscow could use this as an excuse to make Seoul subject to its nuclear doctrine.

At the same time, Russia's nuclear doctrine also says that "i...