The specialists based their analysis on images of fragments of the nuclear-capable missile provided to Reuters by three Ukrainian law enforcement sources, the first visual evidence published to date corroborating Russia's use of the weapon.

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Its deployment dozens of times in Ukraineis a striking example of how the nuclear arms control edifice emerging from the Cold War has crumbled in recent years. This month saw the expiry of New START, the nuclear treaty that imposed limits on U.S. and Russian strategic weapons.

Russia's development of the 9M729 prompted Trump to quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, then a cornerstone of nuclear arms control, in 2019, saying the ground-launched missile could fly far beyond the permitted limit of 500 km (310 miles).

The Ukrainian General Prosecutor's Office told Reuters in a written statement in November that one of the 9M729 missiles fired by Russia on October 5 last year flew more than 1,200 km.

Russia has acknowledged the existence of the missile, but denied it was in breach of the 1987 treaty and that it could fly as far as the distance permitted.
One of the 9M729 missiles fired by Russia on October 5 struck a home in Lapaiivka village near Lviv, resulting in the death of five civilians, the Ukrainian General Prosecutor's Office said in its statement - over 1,200 km from the point from which it was fired.

The use of the missiles is being investigated in eight different regions, it added.

The INF specifically outlawed ground-launched missiles with a range of over 500 km because their launchers are easier to conceal, making them a greater potential threat than missile-carrying warplanes or warships that militaries track.

Since November 2024, Russia has also twice attacked Ukraine with the Oreshnik, a new intermediate-range ground-launched ballistic missile that would also have been banned under the INF.

Both the 9M729 and the Oreshnik can carry a nuclear or conventional warhead and their range puts European capitals within reach.

The 9M729 has a range of 2,500 km, according to the Missile Threat website produced at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Several NATO countries in Europe are now trying to buy or develop their own long-range, deep-strike weapons to narrow the gap in their deterrence capabilities with Russia.

Some European governments worry that the U.S. is no longer committed to protecting Europe. Washington has told Europeans they must take over primary responsibility for the conventional defence of the continent.

Russia said last August it would no longer place any limits on where it deploys intermediate-range missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.