Russian missile test in Dnipro: Propaganda, not warfare
The rockets that struck the Ukrainian city of Dnipro did not cause any explosions or damage on the ground, notes an analyst from the German newspaper "Bild". Julian Röpke said it was a "propaganda and political action, not a military one".
Julian Röpke analysed various footage 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 claimed a new experimental medium-range missile, Oreshnik, was used there.
"Bild" expert Julian Röpke suggests it was a modification of the RS-26 Rubezh missile.
- Many surveillance cameras captured the so-called sub-missiles, that is, RS-26 returning to the lower layers of the atmosphere. This alarming footage shows six rockets descending from the sky through the clouds - indicated Röpke.
- The peculiarity is that it was a test version of the RS-26 missiles, which did not contain explosives, that is, a warhead - he added. In his opinion, it was intended to "simulate a nuclear payload".
- This demonstrates that it was a propaganda and political action, not a military one. There was no nuclear payload or explosives inside. That is why the damage is so minimal. We do not see explosions, only the kinetic energy resulting from a fall from a height of several hundred miles - said Röpke.
Experts from the American expressed similar views think tank Institute for the Study of War. "Thursday's Russian intermediate-range missile attack, Oreshnik, on the city of Dnipro in Ukraine is part of a propaganda campaign aimed at exaggerating Russia's capabilities and putting pressure on the West and authorities in Kyiv" - assessed ISW in their analysis.
Source: "Bild"
