The US believes that the Russian Federation may again use its Kedr (Oreshnik) medium-range ballistic missile against Ukraine in the coming days.

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh stated this.

Singh stated that the use of such missile weapons would not fundamentally change the situation and would be just another attempt to cause damage and casualties in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian specialized project The Alpha Centauri analyzed the current NOTAM restrictions in the Russian Federation.

❗ Сьогодні вночі росіяни, як заявили у @KpsZSU, вперше вдарили по Україні міжконтинентальною балістичною ракетою середньої дальності.

На відео зафіксований ранок 21 листопада у Дніпрі. pic.twitter.com/DR5bLyzbHC

— Повернись живим (@BackAndAlive) November 21, 2024

The first strike, carried out on November 21, was accompanied by a NOTAM prohibiting flights from the ground to outer space over the Kapustin Yar training ground.

The ban was in effect from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day from November 21-23.

As of December 11, there are two similar restrictions in place: the first is in effect on December 11-13 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. local time, and the second is in effect on December 16-21 at the same time.

This time, for unknown reasons, the restrictions also affected the territory of Kazakhstan, which is neighboring the landfill.

Kedr system

The Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile was developed on the basis of the RS-26 Rubezh.

The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine elaborated that the real name of the system is not “Oreshnik” but “Kedr.”

The missile was equipped with six warheads: each warhead was equipped with six submunitions. The speed on the final section of the trajectory is over 11 Machs.

The Kedr missile system was tested at the Kapustin Yar test site in October 2023 and June 2024.

As previously reported, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) between the United States and Russia expired in August 2019.

This treaty, as well as the START III Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between Russia and the United States, are the two key documents that control the nuclear weapons of the two largest nuclear powers in the world.

The United States and NATO have repeatedly accused Russia of violating the terms of the missile treaty and developing nuclear weapons, including the 9M729 or SSC-8 missile, which, according to NATO, has a range of about 1,500 kilometers.

The INF Treaty banned the United States and the then USSR, which was succeeded by Russia, from possessing, producing, and putting on alert a whole class of missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. The United States first accused Russia of violating it in 2014.