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Is Rubezh missile used to strike Ukraine's Dnipro Russia's new "wunderwaffe"?

21 November, 2024 Thursday
16:13

Oleksiy Yizhak, an analyst at the National Institute for Strategic Studies, commented on the November 21 attack on Dnipro by the Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile

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He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

"As a resident of Dnipro, I can say that the sounds last night were indeed different, and I couldn't sleep, but I wouldn't say it was catastrophic. I think it was a demonstrative strike, possibly an unfinished Rubezh missile. It's a mobile intercontinental missile, with a shortened range and potentially capable of striking at a shorter distance, around a few thousand kilometers. The issue with such missiles is their lower accuracy when flying at shorter ranges, which could cause problems. If it was the Rubezh, it would mean a demonstration strike - essentially, dummy warheads that created a certain sound. But the main strikes, I believe, were from the Kinzhal and Kh-101. It wasn't louder, and it’s happened worse before, so I think this particular missile was just a show of force," he explained.

Oleksiy Yizhak noted that this strike does not mean that Russia has a new "miracle weapon."

"In any case, I think this demonstrative strike wasn’t as effective as the strike by Ukrainian Storm Shadow missiles on a protected command post, because there was a tangible result there, while this was just a demonstration. And it still needs to be assessed how successful it really was. To claim that Russia now has a new 'miracle weapon' is is an overstatement, because Russia faces a fundamental problem: missile production depends on the pace at which the first stages of these missiles, like Yars and Rubezh, are produced. These Rubezh missiles are only manufactured at one plant in Russia. So, we now know what the next target should be for Ukraine’s long-range strikes - the factory in Votkinsk. The Russians face a dilemma: either produce these missiles for strategic purposes to scare the United States, or divert a very limited and insufficient resource to intimidate Ukraine. Therefore, I think this is more of a demonstration. It is indeed an escalation and raises concerns, as they showed they have this potential. But there is no new 'miracle weapon' that will change the course of the war," the analyst believes.

  • On November 21, Russian forces launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, along with Kinzhal and Kh-101 missiles, at Ukraine. Ukrainian air defense destroyed six targets.
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