Russia Used 23 Missiles Banned Under the INF Treaty Against Ukraine

Russia has used at least 23 9M729 Novator cruise missiles against Ukraine. These missiles are capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Oleksandr Sorochyk, First Secretary of Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna, stated this during a meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation, Ukrinform reports.

These ground-launched missiles (part of the Iskander-K system) were banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. According to Sorochyk, Russia had been violating the treaty even before it was formally terminated. The production of this missile model was the reason the United States withdrew from the agreement in 2019.

“We have confirmed evidence that Russia has used the 9M729 — a missile system explicitly prohibited by the INF Treaty and capable of carrying a nuclear warhead,” Sorochyk stressed.

The treaty, signed in Washington in 1987, prohibited its members from producing, testing, or deploying ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with intermediate ranges (1,000–5,500 km) or shorter ranges (500–1,000 km). NATO refers to this missile as the SSC-8 Screwdriver, and its range exceeds 1,200 km.

The Ukrainian representative also reported on Russia’s large-scale air attacks over the past week. According to him, during this period alone, Russia launched 1,718 attack drones and 70 missiles, 25 of which were ballistic.

Read more on the missiles of the Iskander-K tactical missile system in our article, where you can read additional information about the 9M729 missiles.