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Russia deploys hypersonic missiles to Belarus in ‘message to the West’

A Russian Air Force MiG-31K jet carrying a Kinzhal missile during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow in 2018 - AP
A Russian Air Force MiG-31K jet carrying a Kinzhal missile during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow in 2018 - AP

Russia has deployed air-launched hypersonic missiles to a base in Belarus for the first time, the Ministry of Defence has claimed.

In its daily update on the Ukraine war on Tuesday, the MoD shared a satellite image which it said showed two Russian warplanes, along with a well-protected container believed to be storing missiles.

The image, which was taken on October 18, shows what MoD analysts believe are MiG-31K jets, as well as a possible canister containing Kinzhal hypersonic missiles at Machulishchy Airfield, just outside of Minsk.

“Russia has occasionally launched these weapons during the Ukraine war, but stocks are likely very limited,” the MoD said.

The MiG-31K was specially developed to carry the missiles, which have a range of more than 1,200 miles.

Stationing the jets in Belarus would do little to increase the number of targets they could hit in Ukraine, the MoD said.

“It has likely carried out the deployment mainly to message to the West and to portray Belarus as increasingly complicit in the war,” it said.

Minsk allows Russian troops to be stationed on Belarusian territory and stage attacks on Ukraine from there, although it insists it does not want to join the war directly.

Last month, Minsk and Moscow announced a joint force to defend Belarusian borders, while Ukraine warned that Russian aviation units were deploying to Belarusian bases on its border.

The Kinzhal missile is among the most feared weapons in Russia’s arsenal.

Capable of reaching speeds of up to mach 10 - or 10 times the speed of sound - the weapon is intended to be much harder to intercept than conventional ballistic missiles. It can carry a 500kg explosive payload, or a tactical nuclear warhead.

Some Western analysts have cast doubt over the weapon’s capabilities however, arguing that the Kinzhal is based on a design from the 1980s.