Russia has moved a division of advanced Russian Iskander tactical ballistic missile systems to Crimea that have a range of 500 kilometers and are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, Major-General Oleksandr Rozmaznin, spokesman for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reported on Thursday, December 4.
“The Iskander division has been moved to the territory of occupied Crimea. This is a tactical operational system that has replaced the Tochka system. The earlier one had one rocket; this one has two. This system has a range of up to 500 kilometers,” he said, according to LigaBusinessInform.
Rozmaznin also expressed concern about the nuclear threat represented by the missile system.
“I will say that this is definitely very bad because any rocket complex is capable of carrying nuclear warheads of specified capacity. This is why the very presence of the Iskander gives reason to believe there is a certain threat,” he said.
According to Rozmaznin, artillery systems of a certain caliber also have the ability to carry low-power nuclear warheads, but Iskander is a system that can now deliver a high-power nuclear charge. It also can be used to carry cluster munitions warheads.
“The presence of this system in occupied Crimea is clearly a reason to consider counteractive measures,” he said.
Earlier, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had announced that Russia has been steadily increasing its military presence in Crimea and that new shock troop units of the Russian Federation were being formed on the occupied territory.
