Russia claims to have shot down eight Ukrainian ballistic missiles

"Air defense forces shot down eight enemy ballistic missiles," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on November 25, without specifying the type of missiles or where they were shot down.

This is most likely a US-made ATACMS tactical ballistic missile, with a maximum range of 300 km. The administration of US President Joe Biden recently gave Ukraine the green light to use this weapon to attack targets on Russian territory.

The Ukrainian military has not commented on this information.

Russia and Ukraine have recently escalated their use of long-range missiles to attack each other’s targets. Last week, Ukraine launched its first ATACMS tactical ballistic missile at an ammunition depot in Russia’s Bryansk region, drawing a furious response from Moscow.

Russia on November 21 launched an Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile with a hypersonic warhead into the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine in response. The Kremlin said the Oreshnik missile attack was a warning to the West, which has repeatedly ignored Russia's message.

The Ukrainian military carried out a drone attack on the Russian border town of Shebekino on Wednesday, killing one person and a local resident. Shebekino town leader Vyacheslav Gladkov said Ukraine also shelled the area, damaging several buildings.

President Putin has warned that Ukraine's use of long-range weapons supplied by the West to attack Russian territory would push the US and its allies into direct war with Moscow, adding that the country would make appropriate decisions in response.