Russia may possess over 500 intercontinental ballistic missiles

Analysts noted that all data is based on early 2024 figures and excludes information on the potential availability of Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh missiles.

“As of the start of the year, Russia had 521 land- and sea-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), a result of more than two decades of work by the Russian military-industrial complex,” Defense Express wrote.

The arsenal includes 34 RS-20 Voevoda ICBMs, 60 RS-12M Topol-M ICBMs, 18 RS-12M1 Topol-M ICBMs, 180 RS-24 Yars ICBMs in silo form, 24 in mobile form, an unknown number of Sarmat ICBMs, and around eight Avangard missiles.

On the naval side, Russia has 192 ballistic missiles for deployment on 12 nuclear-powered submarine cruisers, analysts say.

An intercontinental ballistic missile strike on Dnipro

On the morning of Nov. 21, Ukraine issued a large-scale air alert over a ballistic missile threat, with explosions reported in Dnipro.

Later, Ukraine’s Air Force confirmed that Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from Astrakhan Oblast, flying toward Dnipro.

Defense Express analysts stated this was the first time Russia launched such a missile over Ukraine, demonstrating the potential for a nuclear strike.

Ukrainska Pravda, citing sources, reported that Russia likely used an RS-26 Rubezh medium-range intercontinental ballistic missile in the attack.