Thursday, May 26, 2022
  • About us
    • Write for us
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms of use
    • Privacy Policy
  • RSS Feeds
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
DefenceTalk
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
DefenceTalk
No Result
View All Result

Russia deploys nuclear-capable missiles on NATO doorstep

by Agence France-Presse
October 10, 2016
in Missile News
3 min read
0
Russian Army Receives More Iskander-M Tactical Ballistic Missile System
14
VIEWS

Russia is again deploying nuclear-capable Iskander missiles into its Kaliningrad outpost that borders two NATO members, Lithuania said Saturday, warning the move was aimed at pressuring the West into making concessions over Syria and Ukraine.

Poland also reacted angrily to Moscow’s move while Lithuania added that it could breach a key nuclear weapons treaty.

“Russia is holding military exercises in Kaliningrad, and its scenario includes deployment of Iskander missile systems and the possibile use of them. We are aware of it,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told AFP.

He said modified Iskander missiles had a range of up to 700 kilometres (435 miles) which means they could reach the German capital Berlin from the Russian exclave, which is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania.

Linkevicius said that this time he thought Moscow was using the move to “seek concessions from the West”.

Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz on Saturday called Russia’s activities “very alarming”.

Lithuania meanwhile said the Iskander deployment could breach the international nuclear arms treaty.

“Such actions are possible violations of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Russia’s defence ministry on Saturday confirmed deployment of the Iskander hardware but dismissed Western concerns, saying that “contingents of missile troops have been moved many times and will continue to be moved to Kaliningrad region as part of a Russian armed forces training plan.”

Kaliningrad is “not an exception” to drills conducted across the country, spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in an emailed statement.

Estonian media reported on Friday that Russia was shipping Iskanders on a civilian vessel in the Baltic sea.

Konashenkov said that one Iskander was placed in the open to “confirm the parameters of operation” of a US intelligence satellite he alleged was flying overhead.

Moscow sent Iskanders to Kaliningrad in 2015 as part of a series of mammoth military drills as tensions with the West reached their worst point since the Cold War, triggered by Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its military campaign in Syria a year later.

The United States on Friday called for Russia and Syria to be investigated for war crimes for the bombing of hospitals in Aleppo, and accused Moscow of trying to “interfere” with the American presidential election.

‘Divide, intimidate’
Judy Dempsey, a Senior Associate at Carnegie Europe, told AFP Saturday that Moscow’s latest Iskander deployment to Kaliningrad is “a way to divide the West” just weeks before the US presidential election.

“These types of moves by Russia are making the Europeans and the US nervous. Putin is pressing all the buttons,” Dempsey said.

“Tensions over Iskander have been going on for seven years. It’s a very tried way to pressure the West.

“The latest events in Kaliningrad are a way to intimidate the Baltics and Poland,” she added.

“They cause higher tension in the region, reduce trust, and have a negative impact on security in the region.”

Michal Baranowski, Warsaw office director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said the Iskander deployment is “obviously an openly aggressive move, but it isn’t something that would require an immediate response from NATO — it fits the previous pattern.”

“I would be much more worried if Moscow were to deploy greater conventional forces to Kaliningrad,” he told AFP Saturday.

Vilnius University analyst Laurynas Jonavicius however warned the sabre-rattling by “revisionist Russia” raises the risk of incidents in the Baltic region which could spark a major crisis.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian intelligence warned earlier this year that Iskanders deployed in Kaliningrad “may be used for hindering the actions of NATO’s allied forces in the region”.

Since the start of the Ukraine crisis in 2014, Russia has flexed its muscles with a series of war games involving tens of thousands of troops in areas bordering NATO Baltic states.

NATO responded by agreeing to deploy four battalions in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as of next year to bolster its eastern flank.

Tags: missilesNATOrussiaRussian Missiles
Previous Post

More than 140 killed in air strikes on Yemen funeral: UN

Next Post

China to Develop Airborne Early Warning and Control Variant from Y-20 Transport

Related Posts

Russian Army Receives More Iskander-M Tactical Ballistic Missile System

Belarus buys S-400, Iskander missiles from Russia: Lukashenko

May 20, 2022

Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday his country bought Iskander nuclear-capable missiles and S-400 anti-aircraft anti-missile systems from Russia....

Putin to oversee Russian ‘strategic’ missile drills

Russia practices nuclear-capable missile strikes: ministry

May 5, 2022

Russia on Wednesday said its forces had practised simulated nuclear-capable missile strikes in the western enclave of Kaliningrad, amid Moscow's...

Next Post

China to Develop Airborne Early Warning and Control Variant from Y-20 Transport

Latest Defense News

EU warns Belarus opening door to Russian nukes after vote

New military bases in western Russia in response to NATO expansion: minister

May 20, 2022
NATO warns Russia readying for ‘full-scale attack’ on Ukraine

Signs multiply Russia seeks control of south Ukraine

May 20, 2022
Biden to announce anti-gun violence measures

Biden begins Asia trip in South Korea, under North nuclear shadow

May 20, 2022
Russian Army Receives More Iskander-M Tactical Ballistic Missile System

Belarus buys S-400, Iskander missiles from Russia: Lukashenko

May 20, 2022
Turkey seeks alternatives to Russian energy after warplane crisis

Erdogan urges NATO allies to ‘respect’ concerns over Finland, Sweden

May 19, 2022
North Korea

North Korea ‘ready for nuclear test’ with Biden due in Seoul

May 19, 2022

Defense Forum Discussions

  • Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates 2.0
  • Russia and the West
  • Possible VLF antennas near former Clark Air Force base Philippines
  • NZDF General discussion thread
  • ADF General discussion thread
  • Japan, Koreas, China and Taiwan regional issues
  • China - Geostrategic & Geopolitical.
  • The Russian-Ukrainian War Thread
  • Pacific Islands - Polynesia and Melanesia.
  • Germany
DefenceTalk

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com

Navigate Site

  • Defence Forum
  • Military Photos
  • RSS Feeds
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com