Moscow is preparing for a final test of a new ballistic missile capable of striking targets hundreds of miles away and potentially maneuvering in ways that could challenge Ukraine’s already strained air defenses, a defense analyst warned Monday.
The warning comes as Ukrainian military officials said that Russia could conduct the test in the coming months and potentially in live-fire strikes.
"According to our estimates, Russia plans to conduct final tests of a new type of ballistic missile with a range of up to 800 km by the end of this year," Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), said at a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council, according to Ukrainian news outlet Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Karako warned.
Signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, the INF Treaty required the United States and the Soviet Union to eliminate ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (roughly 310 to 3,400 miles).
The United States withdrew from the treaty in 2019 amid alleged Russian violations.
"This range is one that was formerly prohibited by the INF Treaty that capped ballistic and cruise missiles at 500 kilometers in range," Karako said.
"To some extent, you see Russia filling that gap, which is understandable and reasonable. Of course, they were violating the INF Treaty, which was why the United States got out of it."
Missiles and artillery have been central to Russia's campaign against Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022. Ukrainska Pravda reported Aug. 10, citing Ukrainian military intelligence, that production of Russia's primary missile types had reached between 110% and 120% of monthly targets.
According to the Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the growing strain on air defenses in an interview with Poland, if you're in Romania, if you're in the Baltics, you're worried about the Russians."