Hello and welcome to this updated episode of Battleground Ukraine with me, Patrick Bishop, in London and Saul David, who's currently in the United States.

Well, we're currently living through one of the most dramatic, dangerous and consequential stages

of the war in Ukraine in a very dynamic situation, which is constantly evolving, hence

today's updated version. In the past few days, many new dangerous thresholds have

been crossed and red lines violating. So we're updating now in response to the news that Russia has

reportedly, and I stress reportedly, for the first time, fired an intercontinental ballistic

missile, an ICBM, into Ukraine, striking an aerospace

factory near Denebro.

Well, this was an apparent retaliation for the first use of a British-made storm shadow cruise

missile against a target inside Russia, a command bunker in the Kursk area. And that came hard on the heels

of the first use of US supplied attackam's missiles, which blew up a huge ammunition dump near

Briansk inside Russia. All this has taken the conflict to new heights of danger and uncertainty.

So what do you think is going on, Saul? Well, we don't

entirely know for sure. I mean, you're right to caveat it, Patrick. We've even had Western

officials saying it's not an ICBM, but the Ukrainians are pretty convinced it is. And if it is,

it would strike me that Putin's trying to send a message, isn't he? He can't actually use

nuclear weapons, but he's trying to say, I'm going to use a weapon that is designed to carry nuclear

weapons for thousands of miles. So he's clearly sending out a signal here. It's a warning. But if true,

if this report is true, it's a very significant first. The first time an ICBM, an intercontinental

ballistic missile, has been used not on a test range, but against a city of a million people.

The first time that a weapon designed in the Cold War to deliver nuclear warheads to America

and the West has been used in anger. Of course, this time it's said to have been carrying conventional warheads,

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