Stock depleted, Russia firing cruise missiles with nuclear warheads removed, claims UK
A deactivated Soviet-era SS-4 medium range nuclear capable ballistic missile | Representative
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Russia is reported to be removing nuclear warheads from ageing nuclear cruise missiles and firing unarmed munitions at Ukraine, Britain's military intelligence said on Saturday. The development comes a day after President Vladimir Putin of Russia assured bereaved families of Russian soldiers that Moscow's goals will be achieved soon.
"We must achieve our goals and we will achieve them in the end. I personally and the entire leadership of the country share this pain," AFP quoted Putin as saying.
The UK defence ministry claimed that anopen source imagery "shows the wreckage of an air-launched cruise missile fired at Ukraine which seems to have been designed in the 1980s as a nuclear delivery system", adding that ballast was probably being substituted for the warheads.
"Such a system will still produce damage through the missile's kinetic energy and unspent fuel. However, it is unlikely to achieve reliable effects against intended targets," the ministry added in its daily intelligence update posted on Twitter.
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"Whatever Russia's intent, this improvisation highlights the level of depletion in Russia's stock of long-range missiles", the ministry said.
The ministry said that the warhead had probably been substituted for ballast. "Although such an inert system will still produce some damage through the missile’s kinetic energy and any unspent fuel, it is unlikely to achieve reliable effects against intended targets," it said.
Ukrainian media had earlier reported on November 26 that a Russian Kh-55 missile that was downed over Kyiv on November 17 was originally intended to carry a nuclear payload.
Russia possesses a total of 5,977 nuclear warheads as of 2022, the largest stockpile of nuclear warheads in the world. The second-largest stockpile is the United States' 5,428 warheads. Russia's deployed missiles (those actually ready to be launched) number about 1,588, second to the United States’ 1,644.
(With inputs from agencies)
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