Kyiv: Russia deployed Iskander missile systems near the border with Ukraine
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry confirmed that Russia deployed 12 Iskander missile systems 250 km from the Ukrainian border, UNIAN reports, citing the Ministry’s response to an inquiry about US media reports about the deployment of the missile systems in close proximity to the Ukrainian border.
“According to public information of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Defense Ministry, we would like to report the following: in the area of Krasnodar (250 km to the border with Ukraine) a missile brigade is deployed which is armed with Iskander-M missile systems (12 launchers)” said the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
On December 11, 2018, US television channel Fox News reported, with reference to satellite images provided by the company Imagesat, that Russia deployed Iskander missile systems near Ukrainian border.
The Iskander missile has a range of 500 kilometers. It can carry both nuclear and non-nuclear warheads and are therefore dangerous for most US and NATO allies in the region.
The photo shows military sites, their infrastructure, hangars, bunkers, as well as the Iskander systems themselves together with transport and charging machines.
Fox News also said that Russia deployed the same systems near the border with Mongolia in Ulan-Ude.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, as of the end of December, the number of Russian troops near the borders of Ukraine reached 53 thousand.