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New Russian 9M729 missile threat just brought world back to Cold War era

The Kremlin has scrapped its moratorium on intermediate-range ballistic and cruise missiles, reviving a class of weapons once eliminated under a landmark Cold War treaty, and blaming the West for its return.
byOlena Mukhina
04/08/2025
2 minute read
isw kremlin continues its nuclear threats while dangling economic carrots sway washington russia's rs-26 intercontinental ballistic missile rubezh oreshnik militarnyi appears focused reshaping ties through mix promises all refusing engage
Russia’s RS-26 intercontinental ballistic missile Rubezh, or the Oreshnik. Credit: Militarnyi.
New Russian 9M729 missile threat just brought world back to Cold War era

The Kremlin again threatens Europe with missiles. The Russian Foreign Ministry has announced that the country is lifting its self-imposed restriction on the deployment of land-based ballistic and cruise missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 km, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 

Once-banned missiles are back on the table. In 1987, the US and USSR agreed to eliminate all missiles of this class, but in 2019, the treaty formally expired. After that, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed Russia would not be the first to deploy such missiles unless the US did so first.

Now, Moscow reverses course: it has lifted the restriction, blames the West, and claims a threat from American missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The official reason: "steps by the collective West" that, according to the Kremlin, "destabilize the situation in border regions."

“The Russian Foreign Ministry acknowledges the disappearance of conditions for maintaining the unilateral moratorium on the deployment of such weapons,” the statement says.

 

The US and NATO: Russia lied and violated the moratorium

Western states already claimed in 2019 that Russia had de facto violated the agreement — the main evidence being the 9M729 missile system, which, according to the US and NATO, has a range exceeding 500 km.

Moscow denies it, but reality suggests otherwise: the missiles exist, and now the Kremlin officially admits it is ready to deploy them. This move threatens to spark a new arms race and escalate security risks not only for Ukraine but for all of Europe.

Russia unleashes 9M729 "Oreshnik" missile on Dnipro in 2024

In November 2024, Russia launched a 9M729 missile at the city of Dnipro, marking the first confirmed combat use of the controversial system, also known by the codename "Oreshnik". The missile was equipped with six warheads, each capable of independent targeting. The extent of damage remains undisclosed. 

 

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