The Russian "Oreshnik" missile launched on the Dnipro River was created in violation of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, to which the United States and Russia were parties until 2019, UNN reports citing Forbes.
Details
Early Thursday morning, after warning U.S. officials, Russia launched a mysterious new Oreshnik missile at the Dnipro River.
According to Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon spokeswoman, the Oreshnik could be a Russian RS-26 ballistic missile.
The missile, which was mistaken for a 3,400-mile-range intercontinental ballistic missile without nuclear warheads for its six independent warheads, turned out to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile, or IRBM.
The RS-26 is a 40-ton solid-propellant missile that falls into two treaty categories.
Depending on the angle of the shot, the RS-26 can fly just over 3,400 miles. This is why it could be called an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. However, it would be more accurate to call it an ICBM with a range of less than 3,400 miles.
Until 2019, the United States and Russia were parties to the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which banned the testing and deployment of missiles that could fly between 310 and 3,400 miles. This would have been an obstacle to the development of missiles such as the RS-26.
ICBMs can carry nuclear warheads and strike with minimal warning.
However, this did not stop Russia, and it secretly continued to develop missiles of this category, which led to the United States' withdrawal from the INF Treaty in 2019. Soon after, Russia itself withdrew.
In addition, to avoid the terms of the Treaty, the Russians tilted the RS-26 so that it exceeded the treaty limit of 3,400 miles during the 2019 missile tests. Despite the fact that the missile design favors intermediate rather than intercontinental range.
What is clear is that the Oreshnik is probably a new version of the RS-26. And this emphasizes that it is not necessarily an intercontinental ballistic missile, Forbes notes.
Recall
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimedthat Russia used a new Russian missile against Ukraine. All the characteristics - speed, altitude - of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was quoted by the Russian media as saying that Russia had attacked Ukraine by testing a "new" medium-range ballistic missile, the Oreshnik .