MOSCOW – Russia deployed Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile systems and Tupolev Tu-22M3 long-range bombers in Crimea, Viktor Bondarev, head of the Security Council defense and security committee, said.
“In Crimea we deployed the air defense missile systems S-300 and S-400, Buk-M2, Pantsir-S1, and the Iskander in two modifications,” Bondarev was quoted by his press service as saying.
On Feb. 2 the United States suspended its participation in the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and promised to quit it in six months unless Russia returns to complying with it. According to Washington, the INF Treaty is being violated by the Iskander-M’s 9M729 cruise missile.
“The deployment of a U.S. missile shield in Romania became a serious challenge, to which the Russian Defense Ministry decided to respond with the deployment in Crimea, at the Gvardeisky air base, of a squadron of Tu-22M3 long-range bomber-missile carriers. This step has radically changed the regional balance of forces,” Bondarev said.
