Russian missile test over Dnipro deemed a propaganda act
The rockets that hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipro did not cause explosions or destruction on the ground, according to an analyst from the German daily "Bild." Julian Röpke suggests it was a "propaganda and political action, not a military one."
10:21 AM EST, November 23, 2024
Julian Röpke analyzed various videos of 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. However, Vladimir Putin claimed that a new experimental medium-range missile called Oreshnik was used.
Röpke, an expert from "Bild," thinks 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 miles," 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.
