Russia confirms Iskander-M Kaliningrad deployment

The Chairman of the State Duma Defence Committee, Vladimir Shamanov, on 5 February confirmed for the first time the permanent deployment of Iskander-M missiles in Russia’s Kaliningrad Baltic exclave, independent Russian news agency Interfax has reported.
Plans for the deployment were announced by the Russian Ministry of Defence on 31 January.
On 5 February, Lithuanian Defence Minister Raimundas Karoblis warned that Russia had now permanently stationed Iskander systems in the Kaliningrad region.
Shamanov replied, “We have them in place now, so what?”
The missiles are going to the 152nd Guards Missile Brigade based at Chernyakhovsk, in the Kaliningrad exclave.
In response, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė said the Iskander deployment near Kaliningrad “means a threat not only to Lithuania, but also to half the European states”.
janes

Russia accused by the US of breaching INF treaty that bans medium-range nuclear missiles tests.

Russia has been conducting flight tests since 2008 of a ground-launched cruise missile.
Such a test would fall under the treaty's parameters.
The US has not publicly stated that Moscow is in breach of the treaty but it has now briefed its Nato allies on the issue.
Washington is also reported to have raised concerns with the Russians several times during the past year but has been told that there is no issue to be resolved.
The 1987 INF Treaty was one of the key arms control agreements of the Cold War years.
It eliminated an entire category of nuclear-armed weapons; land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with ranges of between 500km and 5,500km (310 miles and 3,400 miles).
This encompassed US Pershing and Cruise missiles based in Europe, along with the then Soviet Union's SS-20 systems.
Today Russia's missile inventory is complex, often with versions of land, sea and air-launched missiles that bear strong family resemblances.
Experts believe that the cruise missile in question is the R-500; derived from the land-based Iskander-K.
The Russians are no great fans of the INF agreement which they believe - some 26 years after it was signed - reflected a very different world.
It only eliminated these weapons from the US and Soviet/Russian arsenals and, since then, several countries have developed missiles within this range.
bbc

Putin Says Missiles Not Deployed in Kaliningrad

President Vladimir Putin dismissed reports that his country has deployed missiles in its Kaliningrad region, saying Russia has other ways to counter a planned U.S. missile shield.
Germany’s Bild-Zeitung this week reported that Russia deployed the missiles in recent months in the exclave between Poland and Lithuania, two NATO and European Union members. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Dec. 16 that it had placed tactical rockets in its “western district”.
Russia is locked with the EU in a struggle for influence in Ukraine, where President Viktor Yanukovych is facing the biggest protests in a decade after rejecting an EU accord in favor of closer Russian ties. Russia two days ago cut the price of natural gas paid by Ukraine by a third and offered to buy $15 billion of its neighbor’s debt.
Satellite images showed Iskander missiles, known as SS-26 in NATO code, in Kaliningrad, Bild said on Dec. 14. The Iskanders can deliver conventional or nuclear warheads in a range of about 500 kilometers (310 miles), which would encompass the Lithuanian, Latvian and Polish capitals, it said.
Russia said in 2011 that it may respond by deploying Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad if the U.S. built a planned missile-defense system in Europe.
businessweek

U.S. Raises Concerns Over Russia's Baltic Missiles

U.S. officials said they have communicated concerns to Russia that its deployment of nuclear-capable missiles in its Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad would have a destabilizing effect on the region bordering Europe.
Russia recently moved short-range Iskander missiles into Kaliningrad. The State Department didn't say when or precisely where the missiles were deployed or how the Obama administration had communicated its concerns.
Kaliningrad isn't contiguous with Russia. It shares borders with Poland and Lithuania. Both of those countries, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Russian officials have said in the past that the country would deploy missiles in response to U.S.-led NATO missile-defense plans in Europe. The U.S. expects to put land-based missile interceptors in northern Poland by 2018 as part of a system to defend against Iran.
wsj

All Russian Missile Brigades to Get Iskander Systems by 2018

Iskander-M ballistic missile systems, which can effectively engage two targets within a minute at a range of up to 280 kilometers, will be provided to all Russian Ground Forces missile brigades by 2018, the country’s defense minister said.
RIA NOVOSTI

Russia Deploys Advanced Missiles To Armenia

Russia has deployed an advanced new missile system to its base in Armenia,amid deteriorating relations with Armenia's rival, Azerbaijan. A source in Armenia's Defense Ministry confirmed to RFE/RL's Armenian service the deployment of "several" Iskander-M systems.
eurasianet

Iskander Missiles And Russian Fighter Bomber Squadrons In Serbia?

The military presence of Russia in the Balkans can be the answer to the U.S. system PRO in Europe, wrote Nezavisimaya Gazeta. After informing about the meeting between Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu.

inserbia

Russia arms Syria with powerful ballistic missiles

Hours after NATO agreed on Tuesday to send Patriot missiles to Turkey because of the crisis in Syria, Russia delivered its first shipment of Iskander missiles to Syria.

nosint

hamsayeh