Russian missile test over Dnipro: Propaganda without payload
The rockets that hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipro did not cause explosions or destruction on the ground, indicates the analyst from the German daily "Bild." According to Julian Röpke, it was a "propaganda and political action, not a military one."
Julian Röpke studied various film materials from the attack on the Yuzhmash military factory in Dnipro. The Ukrainian army believes that Russia used an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in history. Vladimir Putin, however, claimed that a new experimental medium-range missile, Oreshnik, was used.
Julian Röpke, an expert from "Bild," believes it was a modification of the RS-26 Rubezh missile.
- Many surveillance cameras captured so-called sub-missiles, meaning the RS-26 returning to the lower layers of the atmosphere. This terrifying footage shows six missiles falling from the sky through the clouds - Röpke pointed out.
- The peculiarity is that it was a test version of the RS-26 missiles, which did not contain explosives, i.e., a warhead - he added. In his opinion, it was intended to "simulate a nuclear payload."
- This indicates that it was a propaganda-political action, not a military one. Inside, there was no nuclear payload or explosives. Therefore, the damage is so minimal. We do not see explosions, only the kinetic energy as a result of falling from a height of several hundred kilometres - said Röpke.
Similar comments were made by experts from the American think tank Institute for the Study of War. The only fundamentally new characteristic of the Russian strikes against Dnipro City on November 21 was the Oreshnik missile itself, which ostentatiously showcased reentry vehicles to amplify the spectacle of the strike and further imply a nuclear threat," assessed ISW in its analysis.
