Ukraine has disclosed the name of the real missile that prompted US President Donald Trump to order a resumption of nuclear testing. And no, it is not the two nuclear weapons that Russia recently tested.
This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the successful testing of two nuclear weapons—the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile (October 26) and Poseidon nuclear-tipped underwater drone torpedo (October 29). Both weapon systems were described as the only of their kind, with no analogs.
On October 30, a day after Putin announced the testing of Poseidon, the US President Donald Trump ordered the Department of War to resume nuclear testing. The decision was believed to be a response to the dual nuclear tests conducted by Russia and the sustained nuclear posturing by Moscow.
The move probably rattled Russia, which was quick to clarify that the testing did not constitute a direct test of an atomic weapon. However, it turns out that the dual Russian tests were not the trigger for Trump’s decision in the first place.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, has revealed that Trump’s order was in response to Russia’s use of the secretive ground-launched 9M729 missile against Ukraine, as noted by Reuters in an exclusive report.
“Russia’s use of the INF-banned 9M729 against Ukraine in the past months demonstrates (President Vladimir) Putin’s disrespect to the United States and President Trump’s diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Sybiha told Reuters.
A second Ukrainian senior official reportedly told the publication that Russia has fired missiles at Ukraine 23 times since August 2025. The missile was fired at Ukraine twice in 2022, the officer added.
The claims made by the Ukrainian Foreign Minister confirm the first-ever combat use of the ground-launched 9M729 missile.
The Ukraine conflict, which is fast approaching its fourth anniversary, has been a testing laboratory for modern weapon systems. This includes the first recorded uses of hypersonic missiles, the Kinzhal and the Oreshnik, among a host of other lethal systems that had hitherto been untested in real-world combat conditions.
If Ukrainian claims are verified, 9M729 will be added to this list.
The dates and specifics of the 9M729 strikes were not disclosed by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. However, a military source stated that the missile flew for 1,200 kilometers on October 5, 2025, to hit a target inside Ukraine.
This claim is interesting because, on October 4, Russia said it would no longer limit where it deploys INF-range missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.
Reuters examined the photographs of rubble following a Russian attack in the Ukrainian town of Lapaiivka, which is more than 600 kilometers from Russian territory, on October 5, that allegedly destroyed a residential building and the deaths of four people. The two components of the missile, along with a cabling-containing tube in the photos, were identified as 9M729.
The images were reviewed by Jeffrey Lewis, Distinguished Scholar of Global Security at Middlebury College, with analysts. He said that the engine, paneling, and tube all matched his expectations for the 9M729’s appearance.
Notably, the US President’s displeasure with the use of 9M729 is deeper than one might think. According to the report, the US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019 due to the development of this missile.
In 1987, the US and the former Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty to eliminate and permanently forswear all of their nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia became a party to this treaty, which called for the elimination of an entire class of ground-launched missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Meanwhile, Russia continued to develop and test the 9M729, which has a range of over 2,500 kilometres.
Hence, the US withdrew from the INF in 2019, alleging that Russia had failed to comply with its obligations under the Treaty.
“We can no longer be restricted by the treaty while Russia shamelessly violates it,” the former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in the Trump administration, said at the time.
What Do We Know About The 9M729?
While little is known publicly about the notorious 9M729, we know it is a ground-launched cruise missile developed by the Russian manufacturer NPO Novator.
It is a subsonic, low-observable cruise missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads and employing a terrain-following flight profile to evade detection.
As per the CSIS Missile Threat, the 9M729 is likely a ground-launched variant of the Russian Navy’s ship-launched 3M-54 Kalibr missile. However, some sources also suggest it could be a modified version of the Iskander-K, a cruise missile variant of the Iskander ballistic missile, or the Kh-101 air-launched cruise missile.
All of these missiles have been used to attack Ukraine in the grinding conflict. However, the 9M729 offers something a little new, according to Jeffrey Lewis. For one, it is a ground-based system that could be mounted on the truck and quickly moved around after firing, reducing detection and enhancing survivability.
As Douglas Barrie, Senior Fellow for Military Aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, surmised, Russia could employ the 9M729 to launch ground-based attacks from safer positions farther inside the country.
According to CSIS information, the missile is about 6 to 8 meters long, 0.514 meters in diameter, and has a payload capacity of 450 kilograms. The missile has a range of about 2,500 kilometres.
Russia began secretly developing the 9M729 in the middle of the 2000s, and flight testing began in 2008. This was followed by the first firing in July 2014 and again in September 2015. At the time, the US officials deduced that the missile did not fly farther than 500 kilometres and did not breach the INF.
Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, first acknowledged the existence of the 9M729 missile system in December 2017. She claimed in the same breath that no weapon systems that violated INF regulations had been developed or tested.
However, in November 2018, the US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) said, “Russia initially flight tested the 9M729 – a ground-based missile – to distances well over 500 kilometers from a fixed launcher. Russia then tested the same missile at ranges below 500km from a mobile launcher. By putting the two types of tests together, Russia was able to develop a missile that flies to the intermediate ranges prohibited by the INF Treaty and launches from a ground-mobile platform.”
Earlier, in January 2014, the United States notified its NATO partners in January 2014 about a Russian missile that did not comply with the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty’s range and launcher requirements.
An official compliance report released by the United States in July 2014 stated, “The Russian Federation, in violation of its obligations under the INF treaty not to possess, produce, or flight-test a GLCM with a range capability of 500 to 5,500 km, or to possess or produce launchers of such missiles.
Analysts later determined that it was, in fact, the 9M729.
Russia first publicly unveiled the missile on January 23, 2019. The head of the military’s artillery and missile forces, Lt. Gen. Mikhail Matveevsky, maintained that the 9M729 missile has a better navigation system and a more potent warhead than the 9M728, adding that it does not have increased range.
The claim was not bought by the US, which withdrew from the INF shortly after.
Russia’s use of 9M729 could now be seen as an escalation by the United States. Russia’s arsenal of long-range weapons for striking Ukraine fits a pattern of Moscow sending threatening signals towards Europe.
“I think Putin is trying to ramp up pressure as part of the Ukraine negotiations,” said William Alberque, a senior adjunct fellow at the Pacific Forum think tank was as quoted by Reuters. He also noted that the missile is designed to strike Europe.
This could further spike tensions at a time when NATO countries are furious over repeated airspace violations by Russian drones and aircraft in the Eastern flank.
Moreover, the use of 9M729 by Russia could add momentum to Ukraine’s appeal for Tomahawk missiles, which the US has carefully withheld so far.
For now, we know that this is the second time in less than a year that Moscow has used an intermediate-range weapon against Ukraine, and it is unlikely to sit well with Trump.
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