The Russian military has deployed Iskander ballistic missile systems to Voronezh, a city 175 kilometers northeast of the Ukrainian border, buffing up its forces concentrated in the region. Many fear this can be preparation for a full-blown war on Ukraine.
Russia’s Western Military District on April 13 reported the transportation of four Iskander units of the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army via railways from Kursk, a city 200 kilometers to the west.
The missiles were deployed to the military airfield of Baltimore in the city’s southern district, allegedly in “preparation for a military parade” to celebrate the World War II Europe victory day on May 9.
Russia’s recent deployment of massive numbers of troops near eastern Ukraine and in occupied Crimea has triggered the worst regional security crisis in years, with the Kremlin accusing Kyiv of “warlike sentiments” regarding Russian-occupied Donbas and threatening an intervention “to protect the Russian-speaking civilian population.”
Ukraine repeatedly denied any plans to retake Russian-occupied Donbas militarily, citing its commitment to a peaceful settlement and unwillingness to cause heavy civilian death toll that would result from an all-out offensive.
According to Ukraine’s Presidential Office, Russia has increased its military force near eastern Ukraine and Crimea to a total of at least 80,000 troops, having deployed nearly 50,000 recently. The White House calls this the biggest Russian military buildup in the region since the hottest phase of the war on Ukraine in 2014.
The Kremlin meanwhile presents this buildup as preparation for major military training exercises. Numerous reports designate Voronezh Oblast, particularly the local training range Pogonovo as the biggest concentration point of military forces pulled from all across Russia.
Russia is believed to have nearly 150 Iskander missile systems (NATO reporting name SS-26 Stone) of various modifications deployed primarily to the Western Military District.
The missiles have an operational range of up to 500 kilometers.
“The Iskander systems are designated to destroy other missile systems…, long-range artillery, air, and missile defense units, as well as vital infrastructure, with the use of ballistic and cruise missiles,” as the Russian military noted in the report.
The missiles are also capable of delivering nuclear warheads with a yield of up to 50 kilotons, three times the yield of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
The Iskanders have been in the spotlight of U.S. and NATO concerns for years. Russia was repeatedly accused of introducing Iskander versions capable of exceeding the range of 500 kilometers, in violation of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty between Russia and the U.S.
Years-long tension over the missile system resulted in the U.S. eventually withdrawing from the treaty in 2019.
