Russia used a nuclear-capable 9M729 missile against Ukraine

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said that Russia used a secretly developed 9M729 cruise missile against Ukraine. It was because of this missile that US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019.

Reuters reports this.

According to Szybiga, “Russia’s use of the banned 9M729 missile demonstrates Putin’s disrespect for the United States and President Trump’s diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.”

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the missile launches began on August 21, 2025 — less than a week after the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.

Russia previously announced that it would no longer limit the deployment locations of intermediate-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Since then, it has launched the 9M729 missile 23 times, with two more launches recorded in 2022. In particular, on October 5 of this year, the missile flew more than 1,200 km to the crash site in Ukraine.

According to Missile Threat, the 9M729 has a range of up to 2,500 km and can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads.

Reuters saw the wreckage of a missile after the attack on October 5 in the village of Lapaivka in the Lviv region, more than 600 km from the Russian border. A family of four died in the shelling. The wreckage was marked 9M729.

Recall that Russia uses a wide range of weapons to strike Ukrainian cities, the cost of which is hundreds of millions of rubles per unit.

As previously reported, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has released information about sixty-eight new foreign components found in missiles and drones used by Russia to attack Ukraine’s energy sector. The update highlights the enemy’s dependence on foreign-made chips and components and the need to review export control practices.

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