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The recent revelations from the U.S. as reported by NPR demonstrate a significant event regarding Russia’s nuclear configurations in conflict with Ukraine. The Discovery of a new Russian nuclear powered cruise missile site and the Implications. Here’s a brief about it, let’s break it down.
Russian Nuclear Powered Cruise Missile
Meteorological clues U.S. researchers have determined possible deployment areas for the new Russian Nuclear powered cruise missile 9M370 Burevestnik (NATO code — SSC-X-9 Skyfall), The park in which it sits is located 475 km (295 miles) north of Moscow, in Vologda, Russia. The images are from July 26 and show a new build-up at what experts say is likely to be the barbed-wire-surrounded dump (above) near either Vologda-20 or Chebsara, where nuclear heads were kept.
Site Design The complex contains nine horizontal launch pads that are recessed beneath large earthen berms to protect them from incoming fire or accidental explosions. These launch pads are wired to what appear to be missile service and storage structures. These features indicate that Russia has progressed in implementing the Burevestnik missile.
Strategic and Technological Worries Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed the Burevestnik will have almost unlimited reach and be impervious to missile defense systems. But experts doubt those assertions. But the missile has had a troubled testing pedigree – as well as failing repeatedly and producing one of Russia’s worst nuclear disasters when an unshielded reactor blew up. The Russian nuclear powered cruise missile’s engine has also come under fire from critics who fear potential radiation hazards.
Latest Developments of Ukraine-Russia War
Putin was working out while in Mongolia Some readers might be shocked to learn that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not get arrested when he recently visited Ulaanbaatar, since an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant exists against him for war crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine. There is pressure to have Putin arrested in Mongolia, which has joined the ICC. Still, the country is heavily dependent on Russia to keep its economy afloat.
Eastern Ukraine fighting Escalates
More than 200 clashes were reported over a 24-hour period in the country’s east. They are concentrated near Pokrovsk, an important transportation point for Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted Russian brigades fighting in Ukraine are too well-prepared and focused but claimed there had been no recent fast advances by Russians in the Pokrovsk sector.
Brief
News that the site from which Russia fired a missile and details about increased violence in Ukraine this week are two indicators of rising tension amid increasing unpredictability. Russia, on the other hand, is furthering nuclear armaments and discouraging international policies addressing both this conflict’s geopolitical crises as well as its human dimensions.
It underscores the inherent complexities in global security affairs and speaks to why however tenuous, diplomatic engagement remains paramount as a measure of addressing emerging threats or conflicts.
