Although RS-26 Rubezh can be used to deliver a thermonuclear warhead or an Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, Thursday morning's attack on the Dnipro region was non-nuclear, instead some sort of conventional warhead.
"Using these kinds of missiles, whether RS-26 or a true ICBM, in a conventional role does not make a lot of sense because of their relatively low accuracy and high cost," Pavel Podvig, a senior researcher at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, wrote on X.
"But this kind of a strike might have a value as a signal," Podvig added.
“The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left Alone. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these people’s door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy… but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the Men who just wanted to be left alone.”
One of the greatest Russian ballet dancers of his generation plunged to a tragic death from the fifth floor of his apartment building in St. Petersburg on Saturday. He was 39 years old.
Vladimir Shklyarov’s fatal fall has inevitably prompted an online surge of renewed interest in ‘Russian Sudden Death Syndrome,’ referring to an uncanny propensity among Kremlin critics and Russian criminal elements for meeting untimely deaths under suspicious or otherwise bizarre circumstances–very often, by falling out of windows.
Ukraine HIT By Russian ICBM, Chinese Vessel DETAINED, WW3 Fast Approaching, FIRST ICBM Used In War
“The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left Alone. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these people’s door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy… but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the Men who just wanted to be left alone.”
US Officials Say Russia Didn't Fire ICBM At Ukraine, But A 'New' Intermediate-Range Missile
Update(1057ET): Ukraine's earlier claim that its territory had been struck by an intercontinental ballistic missile fired by Russia is being hotly disputed, hours after widespread reports first appeared. US officials are saying it appears to be a new intermediate-range ballistic missile and not an ICBM which targeted the central city of Dnipro
The NY Times has reported in follow-up of the attack that "several Western officials said that the weapon was not an ICBM and instead was likely an intermediate-range missile that flies shorter distances."
Zelensky [GayZ] himself had claimed Russia used a new class of missile. "All the parameters — speed, altitude — match those of an intercontinental ballistic missile," he said. "All expert evaluations are underway." But US defense officials are contradicting this:
A senior U.S. official said the weapon appeared to be an intermediate- range ballistic missile, adding, "But it is a new type we have been tracking."
US officials have also called it an "experimental" missile. There's also been some quibbling among experts are how to characterize the projectiles which were observed hitting Ukraine at incredibly high rates of speed, in terms of rocket size and distance.
Assuming Washington is correct, and that it wasn't an ICBM, this suggests Zelensky's [GayZ's] hasty verdict is all about threat inflation coming at a time he's desperately trying to get the West's attention, arguing in favor of greater NATO military intervention against Russia.
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“The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left Alone. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these people’s door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy… but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the Men who just wanted to be left alone.”