Kyiv, Ukraine – In a development that has sent shockwaves through international arms control circles, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha confirmed on October 31, 2025, that Russia has repeatedly deployed the 9M729 ground-launched cruise missile against Ukrainian targets since late August. This weapon, whose clandestine development was the primary catalyst for the United States' withdrawal from the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019, represents the first verified combat use of the system anywhere in the world. The revelation, first reported by Reuters, underscores a deepening escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war, coming amid stalled peace talks and a flurry of Russian nuclear saber-rattling.
Sybiha's statement marks a stark acknowledgment of Moscow's growing reliance on advanced, dual-capable munitions in its campaign against Kyiv. "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 Donald Trump's diplomatic efforts to end Russia's war against Ukraine," Sybiha said in written remarks to Reuters. According to a senior Ukrainian military official, Russia has launched the missile at least 23 times since August 21—less than a week after a high-profile summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska—and twice more in 2022. These strikes have inflicted significant civilian casualties, including a devastating October 5 attack on the village of Lapaiivka in Lviv Oblast, where a residential building was obliterated, killing five people and injuring dozens more. Debris recovered from the site bore unmistakable markings of the 9M729, including a cable-filled tube component, as verified by independent weapons analysts who reviewed images provided to Reuters.
The 9M729, known to NATO as the SSC-8 Screwdriver, is a road-mobile cruise missile developed by Russia's Novator Design Bureau as a variant of the Kalibr naval missile family. It is designed for low-altitude flight to evade radar detection, hugging terrain at speeds up to Mach 0.8. Western intelligence assessments, including those from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Missile Threat project, estimate its range at up to 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles), far exceeding the INF Treaty's prohibition on ground-launched systems between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. A Ukrainian military source detailed that one 9M729 fired on October 5 traveled over 1,200 kilometers from launch to impact, placing much of Western Europe within potential striking distance if deployed against NATO targets. The missile's dual-capable nature—able to carry either a conventional high-explosive warhead or a nuclear payload of up to 500 kilotons—amplifies its threat profile, blurring the lines between conventional warfare and nuclear brinkmanship.
This deployment revives the bitter dispute that unraveled the INF Treaty, a cornerstone of Cold War-era détente signed in 1987 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The accord mandated the destruction of 2,692 missiles and introduced groundbreaking on-site inspections, fostering mutual trust and averting a perilous arms race in Europe. Tensions resurfaced in 2014 when U.S. officials under President Barack Obama accused Moscow of testing the 9M729 beyond the 500-kilometer threshold during flights from Kapustin Yar to the Kuril Islands. Russia vehemently denied the allegations, insisting the missile's range capped at 480 kilometers and showcasing a mock-up during a 2019 briefing to "prove" compliance. Undeterred, the Trump administration cited irrefutable evidence of deployments in Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and elsewhere, prompting a formal U.S. exit on August 2, 2019. Moscow followed suit days later, though it initially pledged a self-imposed moratorium on intermediate-range systems—a commitment Western officials now say it has brazenly abandoned.
In early August 2025, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced the end of this moratorium, paving the way for unrestricted 9M729 deployments. Western military analysts, including William Alberque of the Pacific Forum think tank, interpret the timing as deliberate posturing. "Putin is ramping up pressure ahead of Ukraine negotiations," Alberque told Reuters. "The 9M729 was built to hit targets across Europe—its use now is a reminder of that capability, signaling to NATO that Moscow's reach extends far beyond the battlefield." Douglas Barrie, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, added that the missile allows launches from deeper within Russian territory, complicating Ukrainian intercepts while providing real-world data for refinements.
The 9M729's debut in Ukraine fits into a broader pattern of Russian escalations that have heightened global nuclear anxieties. Just days earlier, on October 26, President Putin announced the successful conclusion of tests for the 9M730 Burevestnik (NATO: SSC-X-9 Skyfall), a nuclear-powered cruise missile touted as "invincible" with virtually unlimited range. Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported that the Burevestnik flew 14,000 kilometers over 15 hours during an October 21 test from Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic, demonstrating maneuvers to bypass missile defenses. Putin hailed it as a "unique weapon no other country possesses," ordering infrastructure for rapid deployment. Unveiled in 2018 as a riposte to U.S. missile defense advancements post the 2002 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty withdrawal, the Burevestnik's nuclear ramjet engine enables weeks-long loitering at low altitudes, potentially circling the globe before striking. Critics, however, question its practicality, citing past failures—like a 2019 White Sea explosion that killed five engineers and released radiation—as evidence of inherent risks.
Compounding these moves, Russia has accelerated tests of the Poseidon nuclear-powered underwater drone, capable of generating radioactive tsunamis against coastal cities, though details remain scarce. On October 30, Trump ordered the resumption of U.S. nuclear weapons testing, the first in decades, in response to "other countries' programs." Speaking aboard Air Force One on October 27, Trump dismissed Putin's Burevestnik announcement as "not appropriate," urging focus on Ukraine peace rather than "testing missiles." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov retorted that the tests posed no strain on already frigid U.S.-Russia ties.
Ukraine, facing intensified Russian barrages that have crippled its energy infrastructure ahead of winter, has redoubled calls for Western long-range munitions. Kyiv has specifically pressed Washington for Tomahawk cruise missiles, which escaped INF restrictions as sea-launched systems with a 2,500-kilometer range and proven precision in conflicts from Iraq to Syria. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lobbied Trump directly during an October 17 White House meeting, emphasizing Ukraine's stockpiles of drones but lack of standoff capabilities: "We don’t have Tomahawks, that’s why we need Tomahawks." Zelenskyy has proposed indirect acquisition via U.S. sales to European allies like the UK or France for transfer to Kyiv, bypassing direct escalation.
Yet, hurdles abound. U.S. officials cite depleted inventories committed to Navy needs and the year-long training required for ground-based Typhon launchers, a post-INF innovation. Trump, balancing his deal-making instincts with military pragmatism, stated on October 6: "I would want to know Kyiv’s plans for Tomahawk missiles before supplying them," wary of provoking Putin further. A subsequent Trump-Putin call on October 17, where Moscow warned of "crushing" retaliation, appears to have tempered enthusiasm; reports indicate Trump declined immediate transfers. Russia has branded any Tomahawk provision a "dangerous escalation," with former President Dmitry Medvedev threatening it could "end badly for everyone."
As the war grinds into its fourth year, the 9M729's battlefield debut signals a perilous unraveling of post-Cold War restraints. European NATO allies, from Poland to the Baltics, are bolstering air defenses amid fears of spillover. "This isn't just about Ukraine—it's a preview of how intermediate-range systems could destabilize the continent," said one NATO official anonymously. With Trump pushing for a ceasefire and Putin doubling down on "red lines," the specter of miscalculation looms large. For Ukrainian civilians like those in Lapaiivka, however, the abstract threats of arms treaties yield to the grim reality of shattered homes and lost lives. As Sybiha's words echo, the path to peace demands not just diplomacy, but a reckoning with weapons that once promised mutual destruction.
