Reuters reporting comments from a US official stating that an experimental Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile that struck the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro today, "does not mark a gamechanger in the conflict."

• The official said: "[Russia's] missile use seeks to intimidate Ukraine and missile does not mark a gamechanger in the conflict..."
• Adds: "Russia likely only possesses handful of experimental intermediate-range ballistic missiles used for strike on Thursday."
• The official said that the US, "briefed Ukraine and close allies in recent days about Russia's possible use of this weapon to help them prepare."
• The New York Times notes that Russian President Vladimir Putin called the strike a “test” of a new missile called the Oreshnik and said that its was successful, hitting a military-industrial complex. Putin added: “We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities.”
• The missile test appears primarily designed to bolster Russia's nuclear deterrence by demonstrating the use of a nuclear nuclear-capable delivery system. It comes amid a dramatic escalation of tensions initiated by the Biden administration's decision to relax restrictions on Ukraine's use of US-supplied long-range missiles.
• With the expectation that US President-elect Donald Trump will push for a diplomatic solution to the conflict, both Russia and Ukraine may opt for increasingly risky strategies to hold territory ahead of negotiations, raising the risk profile of the war in the near term.