Russia’s 9M729 Missile Returns to the Battlefield in Ukraine

Images of debris from Russian strikes in Ukraine indicate Moscow has deployed the 9M729 ground-launched cruise missile, a system central to the U.S. withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019. Two experts who reviewed fragments provided to Reuters said the evidence strongly supports earlier reporting that the missile has been used in combat.

The 9M729’s development prompted then-President Donald Trump to leave the INF Treaty, which barred ground-launched missiles with ranges over 500 km (310 miles). Russia denied the missile violated the treaty, though Washington argued it could travel far beyond the permitted limit. The Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s Office said in November that one 9M729 fired on October 5 flew more than 1,200 km before striking near Lviv.

Jeffrey Lewis, Distinguished Scholar of Global Security at Middlebury College, said: “The images really do appear to show the 9M729. In addition to the markings, the debris are similar to other cruise missiles that are related to the 9M729.” Analysts at Janes assessed there was a high likelihood the fragments in 10 published images came from the ground-launched missile.

Ukrainian law enforcement sources said fragments were recovered in Zhytomyr, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia regions. Reuters could not independently verify when and where the images were taken. One fragment bore the serial number 0274, while others were marked “9M729.” A Reuters reporter observed another piece stamped 9M729 but was asked not to photograph it.

According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and sources cited by Reuters, Russia fired the 9M729 twice in 2022 and 23 times between August and October last year. At least four more were launched on February 17, a law enforcement source said, marking the first report of those cases. The General Prosecutor’s Office said one October 5 strike hit a home in Lapaiivka village near Lviv, killing five civilians.

The missile’s use is under investigation in eight regions. Its estimated range of 2,500 km, according to the Missile Threat project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, places European capitals within reach. Since November 2024, Russia has also used the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile twice in Ukraine, another ground-launched system that would have been banned under the INF framework.

The deployment illustrates the erosion of Cold War-era arms control. The New START treaty, which capped U.S. and Russian strategic weapons, expired this month. Russia said last August it would no longer place limits on where it deploys intermediate-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Lewis noted the operational trade-off in using a nuclear-capable cruise missile in a conventional war: “Russia may have a relatively small stockpile of sophisticated cruise missiles and so it's willing to dip into its longer-range stockpile.” The exposure of fragments allows analysts to study performance characteristics and markings, narrowing uncertainty about the system’s use.

European governments, facing a 2,500 km-range system deployed in combat, are pursuing long-range strike capabilities to close deterrence gaps. The 9M729 and Oreshnik can carry nuclear or conventional warheads, underscoring the strategic stakes as treaty constraints recede.