According to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha, a Russian cruise missile, which was developed in secret and contributed to President Trump’s decision to leave a nuclear disarmament agreement, has been deployed in attacks against Ukraine recently.
Sibikha confirmed that Russia has launched ground-launched 9M729 missiles into Ukraine 23 times since August, with two instances occurring in 2022. Reports suggest that these missiles are capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads and may have a range exceeding 1,500 miles. This capability was among the reasons President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019, which had been in place for over three decades.
The INF Treaty, signed in 1987 by the U.S. and the Soviet Union, resulted in the elimination of nearly 2,700 missiles and is credited with helping to bring about the conclusion of the Cold War. Since 2014, U.S. officials have accused Russia of violating this treaty, a claim that escalated during the Trump administration, which formally exited the agreement in August 2019. The administration argued that the 9M729 exceeded the treaty’s range limit of 500 kilometers, a claim that Russia has denied.
At the time, critics expressed concerns that such a withdrawal might lead to an arms race without a proper follow-up agreement. Those concerns seem to be materializing, as President Trump recently instructed the Pentagon to initiate nuclear weapons tests to match Russia and China. This comes in the wake of Russia successfully testing a Burevestnik cruise missile and a new nuclear-capable underwater drone.
Reports indicate that one of the recent uses of the 9M729 involved a flight covering over 1,200 kilometers before it hit Ukraine on October 5. Sibikha described Russia’s use of this missile as a blatant disregard for diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, highlighting the ongoing tensions between the nations.
Ukraine has been urging the Trump administration to enhance its long-range fire capabilities with U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles, arguing that this would help bring Russia to the negotiation table. Nevertheless, the Russian government has cautioned Washington against supplying such missiles, claiming it would escalate the conflict further. President Trump has described this potential transfer as risky and complicated, noting that proper training would be required for effective utilization.
