Tunde Sulaiman 
Russia yesterday said its air defences had shot down eight ballistic missiles fired by Ukraine, amid heightened tensions over Kyiv’s use of Western-supplied long-range arms against Russia.
Ukraine fired US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles into Russia for the first time last week after receiving approval from Washington, prompting a furious reaction from Moscow.
“Air defence forces shot down eight ballistic missiles,” the Russian defence ministry said in a daily briefing, without saying what kind of missiles were used or where they were shot down, reports the AFP.
Moscow and Kyiv have escalated their use of long-range missiles after the United States gave Ukraine approval to use the weapons against Russia.
Moscow fired an experimental hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last Thursday, with President Vladimir Putin warning the weapon — which he called Oreshnik — could be used again in combat.
