Russia has used a ground-launched cruise missile in Ukraine whose secret development prompted the United States to withdraw from a landmark nuclear arms control treaty in 2019, according to Ukrainian officials. The revelation raises concerns that Moscow is employing weapons once banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and escalating the risks for European security as efforts intensify to negotiate an end to the war.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told Reuters that Russia had fired the 9M729, known by NATO as the SSC-8, at targets in Ukraine in recent months — the first confirmed use of the missile in combat. “Russia’s use of the INF-banned 9M729 against Ukraine in the past months demonstrates President Vladimir Putin’s disrespect to the United States and President Trump’s diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war,” Sybiha said in written remarks.
A senior Ukrainian military source said Russia had launched the missile 23 times since August, adding that two other launches were recorded in 2022. One missile fired on October 5 traveled roughly 1,200 kilometers before striking its target, according to the source.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry did not provide detailed dates or locations for the strikes, but Reuters reviewed images of debris from an attack on the village of Lapaiivka that killed four people earlier this month. Missile fragments found at the site were marked “9M729,” and independent weapons analysts who examined the images said the components matched the missile’s design.
Arms control disputes of the post-Cold War era
The 9M729 missile was at the center of one of the most consequential arms control disputes of the post-Cold War era. The United States accused Moscow of secretly developing and deploying the weapon in violation of the INF Treaty, which banned ground-launched missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. The treaty, signed in 1987 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, was widely credited with ending a dangerous phase of the Cold War nuclear standoff in Europe.
Washington withdrew from the INF Treaty in 2019 under then-President Donald Trump, citing Russia’s noncompliance. Moscow denied violating the pact but later confirmed that it had developed the 9M729. The missile can carry either a conventional or a nuclear warhead and is believed to have a maximum range of 2,500 kilometers, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Experts say the missile’s recent use in Ukraine adds a troubling dimension to Russia’s long-range strike capability. “If it’s shown that Russia’s using INF-range missiles, which could easily be nuclear, in Ukraine, then that is an issue for European security, not just Ukraine,” said John Foreman, a former British defense attaché to Moscow and Kyiv.
The launches, he said, demonstrate Moscow’s willingness to project power beyond the immediate battlefield and to signal to Western capitals that it retains escalation dominance.
Why the missile’s deployment?
Analysts also see the missile’s deployment as part of a broader pattern of strategic signaling by the Kremlin. William Alberque, senior adjunct fellow at the Pacific Forum think tank, said the move was likely designed to increase pressure ahead of ongoing peace negotiations involving the Trump administration. “Putin is trying to ramp up pressure as part of the Ukraine negotiations,” he said. “The 9M729 was built to hit targets in Europe — and its use now is a reminder of that capability.”
The missile’s range allows Russia to launch it from deep within its territory, making detection and interception difficult. Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the 9M729 gives Moscow an advantage by expanding attack routes across Ukraine. “This gives them slightly different attack axes, which complicates air defenses and increases the pool of available missiles,” Barrie said. He added that the missile’s use could also serve as a live battlefield test for the weapon’s performance.
Russia has continued to expand its missile arsenal even as the war drags into its fourth year. In recent weeks, Moscow tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile and a nuclear-capable torpedo known as Poseidon. In August, Russia announced it would no longer restrict the deployment of intermediate-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, effectively ending the self-imposed limits that followed the INF’s collapse.