Ukraine has been hit by a surge in Russian ballistic missile attacks, about a third of which used North Korean weapons that can only fly because they run on Western circuitry, obtained despite sanctions,

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the United States and Ukraine’s other partners that the weapon could be deployed against their interests as well.

At the center of an escalating arms race, Ukraine wants to join the ranks of a select group of countries that can produce ballistic missiles. This week, Kyiv struck Russia for the first time with long-range missiles supplied by the West,

Two days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a change in the country's policy for employing nuclear weapons in conflict. Then, on Thursday, Russia attacked the Ukrainian city of Dnipro with a new type of ballistic missile capable of one day delivering multiple nuclear warheads to distant targets with little warning.

The United States believes that Russia fired a never-before-fielded intermediate-range ballistic missile on Thursday in its attack on Ukraine, an escalation that analysts say could have implications for European missile defense.

Russia has said it has identified a US missile base in Poland which it claims raises the prospect of a nuclear war between Moscow and Nato.