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.

The attack with an intermediate-range ballistic missile has spurred fears of a major escalation in the ongoing war and prompted Ukraine to request new air defenses.

The Russian missile that struck the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday reached a top speed of more than 13,000 kph (8,000 mph) and took about 15 minutes to reach its target from its launch, Ukraine said on Friday in its first public assessment of the new weapon.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the Ukraine war was escalating towards a global conflict after the United States and Britain allowed Ukraine to hit Russia with their weapons, and warned the West that Moscow could strike back.

One question is whether the new administration and Europe will provide security guarantees to prevent Russia from taking more territory.

It’s been a turbulent week for Ukraine, which was finally given approval to use US and UK-supplied long range missiles inside Russia but also faced intensified attacks from Moscow’s forces. As the third anniversary of Russia’s full scale invasion approaches,