Investigators in Ukraine are analyzing the debris of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) fired by Russia at the city of Dnipro on Thursday, marking the first time the weapon had been used on the battlefield.

On Sunday, Ukraine’s Security Service showed the remaining fragments of the IRBM called Oreshnik – Russian for Hazel Tree – that struck a factory to The Associated Press.

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed the attack on Thursday evening in an address to the nation and said it was in direct response to the U.S. and the U.K. jointly approving Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied long-range missiles to target Russia.

The Pentagon has said the missile is based on Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), though the wreckage has not yet been analyzed, according to security officials on site in an undisclosed location in Ukraine.

‘NEW’ RUSSIAN MISSILE USED AGAINST UKRAINE NOT HYPERSONIC, DEFENSE OFFICIALS SAY

The AP and other media were permitted to view the fragments before being taken over by investigators.

The wire service showed images of what it described as mangled and charred wires, along with an ashy airframe about the size of a large snow tire. The remains were all that were left of the IRBM, which can carry nuclear or conventional warheads.

“It should be noted that this is the first time that the remains of such a missile have been discovered on the territory of Ukraine,” a specialist with Ukraine’s Security Service said. The specialist only identified himself by his first name Oleh because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with the media.

1,000 DAYS OF WAR IN UKRAINE AS ZELENSKYY DOUBLES DOWN ON AERIAL OPTIONS WITH ATACMS, DRONES AND MISSILES

Fragments of a rocket which struck Dnipro on November 21 are seen at a center for forensic analysis in undisclosed location, Ukraine, Sunday Nov. 24, 2024.  (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate said the missile was launched from the 4th Missile Test Range, Kapustin Yar, in Russia’s Astrakhan region. Once launched, Ukrainian officials said, it flew for 15 minutes before striking Dnipro. The missile was carrying six warheads, each carrying six subunitions, and its speed was Mach 11.

Last week, Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed to reporters during a press briefing that Russia had launched the IRBM, noting that it was a “new type of lethal capability that was employed on the battlefield.”

She also said the U.S. was notified briefly before the launch through nuclear or risk reduction channels.

US EMBASSY IN KYIV CLOSED AS ‘POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANT AIR ATTACK’ LOOMS

Fragments of a rocket which struck Dnipro on November 21 are seen at a center for forensic analysis in undisclosed location, Ukraine, Sunday Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Putin also said last week that the missile attacked targets at a speed of Mach 10.

Despite Ukraine’s and Putin’s claim that the rocket reached speeds greater than Mach 10, two U.S. defense officials told Fox News on Thursday the missile was not hypersonic, which, according to NASA, is a speed greater than 3,000 mph and faster than Mach 5.

Along with launching the IRBM for the first time on the battlefield, Putin signed a law to grant debt forgiveness to those who enlist in Russia’s army to fight in Ukraine.

US BRIEFED UKRAINE AHEAD OF PUTIN’S ‘EXPERIMENTAL INTERMEDIATE-RANGE BALLISTIC’ ATTACK

Fragments of a rocket which struck Dnipro on November 21 are seen at a center for forensic analysis in undisclosed location, Ukraine, Sunday Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

The AP reported that the measure highlights the country’s need for military personnel as it continues its war against Ukraine.

Russian state news agency Interfax said the new legislation allows new recruits enlisting for a one-year contract, to write off debts up to 10 million rubles, or about $96,000.

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The law reportedly applies to debts in which a court order for collection was issued, and enforcement proceedings had commenced before Dec. 1, 2024. The legislation also applies to spouses of new recruits.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Swiss voters took to the polls on Sunday to vote no to bigger motorways, no to easier evictions and tighter subletting rules and yes to a new healthcare financing model.

The Swiss government’s proposal to allocate €5.3 million for expanding motorways and constructing new roads at six key locations, including near Bern and between Geneva and Lausanne, was rejected by 52.7% of voters.

The plan, approved by parliament last year, faced opposition from those concerned about its environmental impact and effectiveness.

The federal government, argues that the volume of traffic on the motorway network has increased more than five times over the past 60 years.

The result was celebrated by the Green Party which called the proposal “an out-of-date transport policy”.

Together with left-wing and environmental groups, the Greens campaigned against the project, highlighting its environmental impact and the concern that wider roads would only lead to more traffic. They now advocate for the funds to be used for public transport, active mobility, and the renovation of existing motorways.

Mattea Meyer from the no camp expressed her satisfaction with the referendum result.

“I am incredibly pleased that a majority of the population does not want a highway expansion, and instead wants more climate protection, a transport transition that is climate-compatible, which the highway expansion is not,” she said.

According to local media to counter this decision the yes campaign, plans on moving forward with expansion projects separately through agglomeration programs, reducing the chance for cantonal referendums.

No to easier evictions

On Sunday, Swiss voters decided on multiple housing issues, such as subletting and lease termination.

53.8% of them rejected the proposal which would make it easier for landlords to terminate leases early in order to use properties for their own purposes.

Additionally, 51.6% voted against a plan for stricter regulations on subletting residential and commercial properties. According to local media, these issues attracted significant attention because tenancy laws affect the majority of Swiss citizens, with about 60% of the population renting their homes, the highest rate in Europe.

The proposal to ease eviction rules faced strong opposition, especially in French-speaking cantons, with Geneva seeing 67.8% of its voters against the plan due to the city’s ongoing housing shortage.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Planet Earth is parting company with an asteroid that’s been tagging along as a “mini moon” for the past two months.

The harmless space rock will peel away on Monday, overcome by the stronger tug of the sun’s gravity. But it will zip closer for a quick visit in January.

NASA will use a radar antenna to observe the 33-foot (10-meter) asteroid then. That should deepen scientists’ understanding of the object known as 2024 PT5, quite possibly a boulder that was blasted off the moon by an impacting, crater-forming asteroid.

While not technically a moon — NASA stresses it was never captured by Earth’s gravity and fully in orbit — it’s “an interesting object” worthy of study.

The astrophysicist brothers who identified the asteroid’s “mini moon behavior,” Raul and Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of Complutense University of Madrid, have collaborated with telescopes in the Canary Islands for hundreds of observations so far.

Currently more than 2 million miles (3.5 million kilometers) away, the object is too small and faint to see without a powerful telescope. It will pass as close as 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) of Earth in January, maintaining a safe distance before it zooms farther into the solar system while orbiting the sun, not to return until 2055. That’s almost five times farther than the moon.

First spotted in August, the asteroid began its semi jog around Earth in late September, after coming under the grips of Earth’s gravity and following a horseshoe-shaped path. By the time it returns next year, it will be moving too fast — more than double its speed from September — to hang around, said Raul de la Fuente Marcos.

NASA will track the asteroid for more than a week in January using the Goldstone solar system radar antenna in California’s Mojave Desert, part of the Deep Space Network.

Current data suggest that during its 2055 visit, the sun-circling asteroid will once again make a temporary and partial lap around Earth.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.