![\"Components](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEI_272485010-2c58.jpg\")
\n\t\tComponents of the SSC-8\/9M729 cruise missile system are on display during a news briefing near Moscow in 2019 (Picture: Reuters)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tComponents of the SSC-8\/9M729 cruise missile system are on display during a news briefing near Moscow in 2019 (Picture: Reuters)<\/p>\n
Vladimir Putin<\/a> fired the \u2018secret\u2019 Novator ground-launched 9M729 missile in Ukraine, threatening a new nuclear arms race<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia<\/a> has been the weapon, the secret development of which prompted Donald Trump<\/a> to walk out on a nuclear arms control pact with the Kremlin his first term.<\/p>\n His comments are the first confirmation that Russia deployed the 9M729 missile in combat \u2013 either in Ukraine or anywhere else.<\/p>\n He warned: \u2018Russia\u2019s use of the INF-banned 9M729 against Ukraine in the past months demonstrates Putin\u2019s disrespect to the US<\/a> and president Trump\u2019s diplomatic efforts to end Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine.\u2019<\/p>\n The missile has a range of about 1,550 miles and can carry either a nuclear or a conventional warhead, according to the Missile Threat website.<\/p>\n This means it can reach most Nato nations in Europe, including the UK.<\/p>\n It is understood that Russia has fired the missile at Ukraine 23 times since August, according to a second senior source cited by Reuters. <\/p>\n Ukraine also recorded two launches of the 9M729 by Russia in 2022, they added.<\/p>\n The 9M729 led the US to quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019 over claims it is in breach of the treaty and could fly beyond its limit of 310 miles \u2013 a major issue for European security.<\/p>\n Russia denied this.<\/p>\n Use of the 9M729 expands the Kremlin\u2019s arsenal of long-range weapons for striking Ukraine and fits its threatening pattern of it sending signals towards Europe as Trump seeks a peace settlement, Western military analysts said.<\/p>\n \u2018I think\u00a0Putin\u00a0is trying to ramp up pressure as part of the negotiations,\u2019 said William Alberque, a senior adjunct fellow at the Pacific Forum think tank, adding that the 9M729 was designed to hit targets in Europe.<\/p>\n Russia tested its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile last week, and on Wednesday said it had tested a nuclear-powered torpedo named Poseidon.<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow
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