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.

The Kremlin on Friday said Russia's launch of an experimental ballistic missile against Ukraine should be understood as a warning to the West, as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte convened a key meeting to discuss the implications of the strike.

Russia has fired an ballistic missile from the Astrakhan region against Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force said Thursday morning. According to the same statement, in the wave that occurred between 5 and 7 this morning, the Dnipro area was targeted.