Vladimir Putin’s armed forces are preparing to fire RS-26 intercontinental ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian capital, local media reported.
Western nations including the United States shut their embassies on Thursday in anticipation of a large-scale air strike. The joint closure, also involving Italy, Spain and Greece, marked the gravest expression of concern from foreign embassies since the early days of the war.
On Wednesday, British Storm Shadow missiles hit a command post in the Kursk region in their first use against the Russian mainland. US-made ATACMS hit an ammunition dump in neighbouring Bryansk the day before.
According to Moskovky Komsomolets, a Moscow-based newspaper, the Russian military is readying to launch RS-26 missiles from a site in the city of Astrakhan by the Caspian Sea.
The RS-26 has not been used in combat before, according to Western missile experts. It is said to fly at five times the speed of sound, making it harder for Kyiv’s US-supplied Patriot missile systems to shoot down.
Kyiv has regularly been attacked by smaller, slower Iskander missiles since the war began.
The RS-26 is fired from a ground-based launcher and reportedly weighs 50 tonnes, with a warhead three times larger than the Iskander.
Kyiv was sent into a state of frenzy on Wednesday morning when the US embassy announced that it had closed for the day. In a statement, the embassy said its employees had been instructed to shelter in place after the US received information of a “potential significant air attack”.
Americans in the city were urged to pay special attention to the city’s regular air raid alerts.
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