Ukraine's Defence Intelligence head explains features of Russian experimental missile that struck Dnipro

VALENTYNA ROMANENKO — Friday, 22 November 2024, 15:34

Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence. Stock photo: Getty Images

Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence, states that as of October 2024, Russia was supposed to have manufactured two experimental missile samples from the Kedr missile system, one of which targeted Dnipro on 21 November.

Source: Budanov during the Genocidal practices of the Russian Federation in Ukraine discussion, writes Interfax-Ukraine

Quote: "I say it again. The missile is experimental. We know for certain that as of October, they should have manufactured two prototypes, possibly a few more, but believe me, this is a prototype, but not yet a mass production, thank God."

Details: Budanov stated that Oreshnik (as Putin termed the missile that targeted Dnipro) is the name of the research project, "it's just a cypher."

"The system itself is known as Kedr. This is an experimental system. Let's just call it a medium-range ballistic missile. A nuclear weapons carrier. The fact that they deployed a non-nuclear version is, as they say, a warning from them that they have not gone completely insane," Budanov stated.

Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, stated during an expert discussion that for Russia to start serial production of the new ballistic missile used in the test strike on Dnipro, it would need to have at least ten pieces of this missile.

Quote: "If this is experimental combat use, there will be at least ten missiles. In order to launch a missile into serial production, at least ten tests are required. We observed this with the Bulava sea-based missile, where half of the launches were successful and half were not."

Skibitskyi explained that in 2018–2019, Russia initiated a new research and development project called Kedr RV. This project aimed to develop a missile system to replace the RS-24 Yars missile that was in service with the Soviet Union and remains in service with Russia today.

The first test of this missile was conducted in June 2021 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk Oblast.

The Kedr missile system was developed based on the Rubezh missile system. However, Skibitskyi revealed that "something went wrong" for the Russians, leading them to abandon the Kedr project in 2017. Instead, Russia launched a new research and development effort called Oreshnik.

Quote: "This is essentially part of Kedr, as Kedr envisioned creating a new missile to replace the Yars for both silo-based and mobile deployment. Our assessment is that the Oreshnik project was aimed at developing a mobile launcher not tied to a silo."

Background:

Ukraine’s Air Force noted that during the latest missile attack on the city of Dnipro, Russia used an intercontinental ballistic missile. Ukrainska Pravda sources reported that it could have been a Rubezh missile, a potential carrier of nuclear warheads.
However, two Western officials told Reuters that preliminary data did not confirm the use of an intercontinental ballistic missile by Russia.
In his Thursday address, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin indirectly confirmed US reports, stating that during the morning attack on Dnipro on 21 November, Russia used the Oreshnik medium-range missile.
The United States officially confirmed that on the morning of 21 November, Russia struck Dnipro with a ballistic missile based on the RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile.
On 22 November, Defence Intelligence of Ukraine stated that on 21 November, Russia launched a ballistic missile, likely from the Kedr missile system, against Ukraine.