Russia has fired at least three missiles into Ukraine in connection with the October-November bombing campaigns, which Ukraine handed over to Russia when it gave up its nuclear arsenal in the 1990s. The Deputy Director of Military Intelligence of Ukraine, General, tells about it Vadim Skibitski US magazine The New York Timesin in the interview.

These are the long-range H-55 cruise missiles that were part of the Soviet Union’s nuclear arsenal and were stationed in the territory of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic. Unexploded missiles are identified by their serial numbers.

According to Skibitski, the nuclear warheads originally intended for missiles have been removed from the missiles, and non-explosive material has been put in their place. The purpose of the missiles has been to fool the Ukrainian air defense into firing them instead of actual missiles equipped with warheads.

“It would be better if we handed them over to the United States,” Skibitski snorts in an interview.

Past the Soviet republics negotiated the fate of nuclear weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union without reaching an actual solution for three years. However, the Budapest Memorandum, signed in December 1994 between Ukraine, Russia, the United States and Great Britain, resolved the issue.

About a third of the Soviet Union’s nuclear warheads were on the territory of Ukraine, and it handed over the last one to Russia on June 1, 1996, says Arms Control Association.

The missiles and other equipment involved in launching nuclear weapons were mostly destroyed, but they were also handed over to Russia. 11 of the strategic bombers and 582 of the cruise missiles were handed over to Russia based on an agreement concluded in 1999.

Ukraine’s gas debt to Russia was settled with machines and missiles. H-55 missiles are specifically fired from strategic Tupolev Tu-160 and Tu-95 bombers.

The previous ones according to information, Russia has used other old missiles without a warhead to fool Ukraine’s air defenses. Part of the reason for the procedure is that there are no new missiles in Russian warehouses until they are wasted.

According to Skibitski’s estimate, Russia will only have three to five attack waves if 80–90 missiles are used in each wave, as has been the case recently.

On the other hand, Russia has been able to keep its missile production going despite Western sanctions.

The Ukrainian Air Force previously said that last week’s bombing wave on Monday used missiles that were only a few weeks old. According to Skibitsky, Russia has been able to produce missiles at a rate of about 40 per month during the current offensive.