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.

Vladimir Putin has claimed Moscow launched a new hypersonic ballistic missile against Ukraine in response to strikes by Kyiv inside Russia using UK and US long-range missiles.

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 launched an intercontinental ballistic missile during an attack on Ukraine on Thursday, Kyiv's air force said, in the first known use in the war of such a powerful, nuclear-capable weapon with a range of thousands of kilometres.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that the attack was a test of Russia's "newest missile," an IRBM called "Oreshnik."

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

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

A new intermediate-range ballistic missile called Oreshnik used by Russia in a strike on Ukraine this month is a state-of-the art weapon that the West cannot intercept, President Vladimir Putin has said.

Putin said a massive aerial bombardment of Ukraine's energy facilities was in response to Kyiv striking Russian territory with Western-supplied missiles

Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile during an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, Kyiv's air force said, in what would be the first use in war of a weapon designed to deliver long-distance nuclear strikes.