“A missile attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile is Putin’s next terrorist signal to the world. If you watch the video of the impact, you can see that the blocks from the rocket had models of nuclear charges. And considering…”, — write: www.unian.ua
Speaking directly about the missile, at first it was said that the Russians could strike with the Rubezh missile. Later, the Russian dictator said that the blow was inflicted by the newest Russian missile “Oreshnik”. And later, the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense Kyrylo Budanov said that the missile that the Russian Federation used to strike the Ukrainian city was experimental and was a medium-range ballistic weapon.
Putin chose the best time for such a provocation. After all, everyone in Europe is waiting for January 20, when Donald Trump will come to power in the USA.
That is, until now they do not know what to do and how to respond. Putin calculated this moment. And although the act itself – the launch of “Oreshnik” on the Dnieper – can be considered an attempt to find a way out of a hopeless situation, he did it qualitatively. At least the Russian audience is satisfied.
At one time, the United States and the USSR signed the INF treaty, according to which short-range missiles are those that hit at a distance of up to 5,500 kilometers. And everything that can hit further is considered intercontinental missiles, medium-range ballistic missiles. The missile that Russia launched over the Dnipro can fly up to 6,000 kilometers away. And this is not an assumption, but the results of tests. After all, representatives of the USA were also present at the tests at one time. And they received materials that confirm this distance. That is, in this case it is not about “analog” weapons, but about real numbers.
According to the norms of the mentioned INF Treaty, the parties – namely the United States and the “heir” of the USSR – Russia – must notify each other about the launch of such missiles. What, in fact, happened when the Russian Federation planned an attack on the Dnipro – everything was transmitted through diplomatic channels. After all, even in this case, Putin really wants to save his face, to show “civilization”. He said he fulfills all his obligations, even though he left the contract.
The US passed this information on to European countries, but most of them, except for Italy, Spain and Greece, ignored it.
But now we see that the West simply does not know, does not understand how to react to these launches.
Biden has already expressed “concern”. In Europe, only Scholz said that this is an escalation, and he condemns it (however, Scholz has his own interests in this matter on the eve of the elections). Other Europeans, instead of giving a tough answer or making some decisions, are simply waiting.
Can the West transfer weapons to Ukraine to protect against further attacks? After all, it is quite difficult to understand whether the air defense systems available in Ukraine are capable of shooting down this type of missile. Of course, the Patriot can track up to twelve targets simultaneously. And if he is unlikely to be able to threaten the rocket itself, then with the knocking down of disconnected blocks – the question is open.
Will the West be able to transfer weapons to Ukraine in order to react harshly enough to the Kremlin’s provocation? If a large number of Tomahawks were quickly transferred to Kyiv, this issue could be resolved very quickly…
After all, if a year or two ago the West had given us all the necessary weapons on time and without restrictions, now the question of new Russian missiles would not arise at all.
Kostyantyn Kryvolap, aviation expert
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