Russia struck city of Dnipro with an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from the "Kedr" complex, not "Oreshnik", as announced by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. This opinion was expressed by the military expert and reserve colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Oleg Zhdanov on the air of "Kyiv24“.
"This is either madness or Putin's dementia. Maybe Putin has forgotten the word "cedar" and "hazelnut“ comes to mind. About "Oreshnik“ no information – neither about its development nor that there is such a project at all. "Demarcation” was closed in 2018 due to lack of funding... Now our Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) has revealed that this is the "Kedr“ complex. with a light rocket. "As far as I understand, this is a ballistic missile that will cover an average range of up to 6,000 kilometers," commented Zhdanov.
At the same time, the expert warned that this strike should be interpreted as a signal to the West and the USA.
"This is not about our souls. Here we find ourselves in the role of a victim who has been struck. This is an attempt by the Russian Federation to escalate the conflict, demonstrating its readiness to use a missile from the nuclear triad, i.e. strategic missile forces. This is a signal to the West that they are ready to use even such missiles, Zhdanov explains.
According to him, the West avoids a sharp reaction because, on the one hand, it is afraid of escalation, but on the other hand, it has adequate means of defense against intercontinental ballistic missiles on its territories.
"The reaction of NATO and our partners is not so active because they have adequate anti-missile defense systems and feel more or less protected, Zhdanov noted.
According to the expert, Russian launches of such missiles are unlikely to be massive.
"At the beginning of the year, as is known from open sources, 521 intercontinental ballistic missiles were counted in the Russian Federation. The cost of each such missile in this variant with a high-explosive warhead is a minus in the combat potential of the Russian nuclear triad. By the way, the warheads for these missiles are manufactured artificially, to order for testing and for training the crews of the strategic missile forces. And so every rocket is a carrier of a nuclear charge. And because of the sanctions, today Russia has completely stopped the production of such missiles”, emphasizes the expert.
He expressed an opinion on what Ukraine's reaction should be. Zhdanov reminded that an extraordinary meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council is being convened at the initiative of Kyiv.
The Ukrainian army: Putin is either crazy or has dementia! Such a missile does not exist
The reaction of NATO and our partners is not so active because they have adequate missile defense systems and feel more or less protected, noted Colonel Oleg Zhdanov
Nov 22, 2024 21:09 423