Russia deploys missiles the Kaliningrad region near Lithuania, according to foreign news reports.
Pictured here: Iskander M – missile launch.
The German newspaper ‘Bild’ published information that indicates the Russian military has stationed Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad region near Lithuania.
The newspaper says that it received the information from “unnamed security sources” and from “secret satellite images” that portray several missiles close to the EU borders.
The newspaper has, however refused to make public the secret satellite imagry in this case.
Meanwhile, www.delfi.lt and the news agency BNS report that Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius confirmed that he was aware of the situation.
The Prime Minister said he could not confirm or deny reports that those were ‘Iskander’ missiles that were deployed.
The Iskander short-range ballistic missile was designed to overcome air defense systems and are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
“I am aware of this information, that certain technical equipment was deployed near the borders of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. But I would not like to disclose and comment on certain things today. I have this information and I even had some conversations about the situation yesterday,” Butkevičius told journalists.
‘Iskander – M’ has a range of around 500 kilometers that can easily cover whole Lithuania, Poland and might even be able to reach as far as major American military bases in Germany.
See video: Missile launch Iskander ballistic missiles Оперативно-тактический ракетный комплекс — ОТРК http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5zCzPzCiCE
According to yet another report an “anonymous official” at Russia’s Land Forces Command has “confirmed” to the Izvestia daily in Moscow that the missiles have been deployed “near Poland’s border for a year and a half ” – See related article: http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/156122,Russian-Iskander-missiles-deployed-near-Polish-border
This comes on the heels of disturbing reports that Russia is considering deploying Iskander missiles in Syria – as a deterrence to American military threats (see article: Russian considers nuclear missiles for Syria http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/world/9691338.asp).
The Iskander’s cruise attributes make its launch and trajectory extremely hard to detect and intercept.
The missiles would also be in range of more than a half dozen American military bases stationed throughout the Middle East, including those in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain…
The Pentagon refused to confirm or deny these reports or comment on them in any way, but seemed very interested in the reports.
UPDATE: Moscow confirms deployment of Iskander missile deployment along NATO borders, according to RT News (see report: http://rt.com/news/iskander-missile-deployment-russia-317/