In October, Ukraine fell victim to another missile attack from Russia. During the cleanup work, the Ukrainians noticed something unusual in the rubble.
They had discovered the wreckage of a Kh-55 subsonic cruise missile. It was developed in the 1970s as a warhead carrier, General Vadim Skibitsky, spokesman for the main intelligence agency of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, told the New York Times. And in a Ukrainian arms factory.
Security guarantees against weapons
According to Skibitski, Russia received the missile in the 1990s as part of an arsenal of weapons from Ukraine.
This was after the signing of the Budapest Memorandum in 1994. This international agreement included security guarantees for Ukraine in connection with its accession to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In return, the country had promised to destroy or transfer to Russia all nuclear weapons on its territory.
warhead removed
Now Ukrainians must be attacked with their own weapons. According to Skibitski, the Russian military had removed the warhead and added ballast “to disguise the fact that it was not carrying cargo”. As the newspaper writes, this has also been confirmed by the Pentagon and the British secret service.
In November, Ukrainian forces found the remains of two other Kh-55 missiles, which had also had their warheads removed and belonged to the same set of weapons Ukraine had supplied to Russia under the deal.
bait tactics
Skibitski sees the attack with the old Ukrainian missiles as bait. If the Kh-55 missiles are fired, Ukraine will have to activate its air defense system. Only then will Putin’s forces launch modern missiles with destructive nuclear warheads.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine transferred all ballistic missiles and the Tu-160 and Tu-95 strategic bombers to Russia, Skibitski said. “Now they are using Kh-55 missiles against us with these bombers.” It would have been better if they had been extradited to the US at the time, he believes.
Skibitski also assumes that the rocket attacks are far from over. “According to our calculations, they have missiles for three to five more attack waves,” he told the New York Times. “That means 80 to 90 missiles are fired in one wave.” (Man)