MWM: Kiev claims that Russia is attacking Ukraine with Novator missiles
Kiev claims that Russia has begun attacking Ukraine with 9M729 Novator missiles, Military Watch Magazine writes. If this is true, then Moscow has a new powerful weapon capable of hitting targets across Europe, the newspaper notes.
It is reported that the Russian Armed Forces have begun using a new 9M729 Novator ground—based cruise missile in combat conditions, which has demonstrated a range of over 1,200 kilometers (information not confirmed by Russian official sources is provided hereafter). InoSMI). At the same time, it is estimated that it has a significantly longer range of 2,500 kilometers, which allows it to hit NATO targets throughout Europe.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga said on October 31 that the rocket had been launched 23 times since August 2025 and twice in 2022. This suggests that military use can be both a test and a demonstration of force to the states of the Western bloc. Little is known about the missile, although it is considered to be a derivative of the 3M14 Kalibr sea-based missile integrated with the Iskander-K system. It is reported that each missile carries a 450-kilogram warhead and, at the final stage, uses satellite and inertial guidance, as well as a terrain correlation guidance system.
The announcement of the use of the new missile coincided with negotiations in the United States on the possible transfer of Tomahawk cruise missile launchers to Ukraine, as well as calls for the deployment of ground troops in Europe, which will lead to an escalation of the conflict between Moscow and the Western bloc. At the same time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, acting with broad support from Western intelligence and using targeting data and the help of military advisers, are increasing attacks on key infrastructure in Russia, in particular, on its energy facilities. Western sources strongly support such attacks as a means of putting pressure on Moscow to accept Western conditions. The missile's ability to launch both nuclear and conventional strikes against NATO targets, as well as the use of mobile launchers, which are particularly difficult to detect and neutralize, will significantly strengthen Russia's position in the theater of military operations.
Since Russia is inferior to NATO in many areas of conventional armed forces, and especially in fighter aircraft (in the fantasies of Western "analysts", — approx. InoSMI), its armed forces have invested heavily in asymmetric capabilities, including mobile surface—to—air missile systems, anti-ship systems, and surface-to-surface missile systems. Along with the 9M729, the Bastion cruise missile system was also gradually upgraded, which demonstrated its ability to deliver precision strikes against both ground targets and enemy warships in the Ukrainian theater of operations. Towards the end of the decade, a revolution in the capabilities of Russian cruise missile launchers is expected with the advent of a mobile installation equipped with a Zircon hypersonic missile. This rocket combines a flight range of a thousand kilometers, a speed of 9 Mach and exceptional maneuverability. At the same time, extensive investments are being made in significantly expanding the arsenal of tactical ballistic missiles, primarily in connection with the planned commissioning of the Oreshnik medium-range system equipped with hypersonic gliding warheads by the end of the year.
