Russia Warns U.S. Just Before Launching ICBM at Ukraine

21 November, 2024 RS-26 "Rubezh". Photo: Russian media The Russian Federation has warned the United States about the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile aimed at Ukraine.

This was stated by Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh at a briefing. According to Singh, the United States was notified shortly before the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels. She added that the Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile was developed on the basis of the RS-26 Rubezh.

Militarnyi reported recently that on the morning of November 21, Russia attacked the city of Dnipro with missiles of various types, including an intercontinental ballistic missile of an undetermined type.

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According to the Ukrainian military, the missile was launched from the Astrakhan oblast of the Russian Federation.

Footage of the strike by individual guidance units without warheads was shared on social media. According to these, the strike was purely kinetic. Later that day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that an experimental medium-range ballistic missile "Oreshnik" was used.

As a reminder, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) between the United States and Russia expired in August 2019.

Fragment of the RS-26 Rubezh anti-tank guided missile system with the marking IRTSU, which corresponds to the TsNIIAG plant code. Source: Telegram/@war_home

This treaty, as well as the START III Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between Russia and the United States, are the two key documents that control the nuclear weapons of the two largest nuclear powers in the world. The United States and NATO have repeatedly accused Russia of violating the terms of the missile treaty and developing nuclear weapons, including the 9M729 or SSC-8 missile, which, according to NATO, has a range of about 1,500 kilometers.

The INF Treaty banned the United States and the then USSR, which was succeeded by Russia, from possessing, producing, and putting on alert a whole class of missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers.

The United States first accused Russia of violating it in 2014.