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On November 21, the modern warfare entered its new stage. The war between Russia and the West has changed forever. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched their advanced medium-range ballistic missile.
The missile struck the State Factory “Southern Machine-Building Production Union”, officially abbreviated as Pivdenmash or Yuzhmash in the city of Dnipro (Dnepropetrovsk). According to local reports, the large industrial facility suffered strategic destruction. All communications and traffic were blocked in the area, a lot of ambulances arrived on the spot. Officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) came to the area. The scale of destruction is likely to be shown by the satellite imagery soon.
The Ukrainian military claimed that Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles were also used in the attack. Another Patriot, the US most advanced air defense system, was reportedly destroyed on the outskirts of the city before the main blow.
Moscow showed its Doom’s Day weapon in action. The RS-26 Rubezh ballistic missile was reportedly launched from the Kapustin Yar test site in the Astrakhan Region of Russia. The flight time to the target located about 800 kilometers away is estimated to be less than 5 minutes. The speed of the combat units at the final stage of the flight was about 5-7 kilometers per second.
The RS-26 Rubezh is a medium range ballistic missile, which is normally designed to carry nuclear warheads. It was developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering as part of the Avangard program. It was created on the basis of the RS-24 Yars ballistic missile. Information about this mobile missile system, like its rocket, is strictly classified.
The RS-26 Rubezh reportedly has a starting weight of about 40-50 tons and is capable of delivering 4 separate combat units at a distance of 2,000 to 6,000 kilometers. It is three times larger and much more powerful than the Iskander mobile short-range ballistic missile system.
It has an advanced protection against the missile defense system and reportedly four individual thermonuclear warheads with a capacity of 150-300 kilotons each. No foreign air defense system is technically able to intercept it.
The Rubezh missile is aimed at delivering nuclear strikes but in apparently in today’s attack the combat units were equipped with metal blanks. The published footage from Dnipro shows the kinetic effect of using of such ammunition. It is possible that the rocket was equipped with an Avangard-R hypersonic glider.
The footage also shows that the launched rocket had 6 combat units with 6 warheads in each. It is possible that the Russian military used its secret RS-27 or Yars missiles of the same type.
Moscow does not officially comment on the strikes but Russian diplomacy played well the media game that Kiev and its Western patrons imposed. LINK After the strikes, the spokeswomen of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mariya Zakharova, held a media briefing, during which she had a ‘surprise’ call. Everyone clearly heard that the strikes reported by the media should not be commented. Thus, this was unofficial confirmation of the attack.
Apparently, Moscow warned the NATO countries about the impending strike in advance. That is why there was hysteria in Kiev the day before. Russian revenge was not long to wait but Kyiv and its patrons were surprised by its scale, target and timing.
After today’s strikes, the world will not be the same. Showing its advanced missile systems in action, Russia has demonstrated that it possesses unique missile technologies and is ready to use them effectively. In case the conflict in Ukraine transforms into a full-scale war with NATO, such complexes can be used with standard nuclear ammunition.
Moscow responded to the strikes with NATO missiles on Russian territory in a sophisticated manner, giving a clear sign to Western warmongers. There is no point no point on the European map protected from attacks by such Russian missiles. Today, NATO countries have no ability to intercept them, at least over the territory of Europe.
The exact number of missiles of this type in service with the Russian military is classified. According to open sources, the Russian Federation possesses at least 200 RS-26 Rubezh and PC-24 Yars missiles, which is more than enough to deal series of devastating blows on its enemies.
Russia responded to the escalation. Now the ball is in Western court. The further steps are yet to come but it is clear that the provocations, including strikes with Western cruise missiles on Russian critical military sites, transport and energy infrastructure will be paid at too high price.
