The news was released by German newspaper Bild on December the 14th: making reference to undated and source-less satellite pictures, Bild affirmed that the Iskander deployment operation has occurred during the last 12 months and, referring to unspecified sources, it also affirmed that such an operation is Moscow’s response to European missiles shield that’s being built by NATO with United States political and technical support. The news found further confirmation thanks to non-governmental Russian news agency Interfax that confirmed Iskander presence and added Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov’s assertion stating that no international agreement has been broken by Russian action.
In any case, although SS-26 could actually hit Western Europe heart counting on a 500 kilometres range, Russian move should be read more as a demonstration of power than an actual military threat. The Kremlin has been considering NATO project as a menace to Russian own security since its early origin, but the initiative has been progressing anyway, with no regard to Russian protest what-so-ever. In this sense, Iskander presence purpose is to restate Moscow role as regional power as well as to remind to the international community both Russian authority and influence.
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