Tit-for-tat moves this week included the use of American-made ballistic missiles to strike inside Russia, and new nuclear threats from Moscow. Neither appear to have influenced the war on the ground.

This is the first time Russia has used its so-called Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile in combat. The launch also serves as a warning to the West.

Russia launched a new non-nuclear ballistic missile with medium range on Ukraine’s Dnipro region on Thursday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said in a televised statement, marking another significant escalation in the 1,