AGI According to Kyiv, it was not a TochkaU missile that hit the Kramatorsk station, as claimed by Moscow, which blames Ukraine for the massacre, but a more modern Iskander. After a development phase in the 90s the new Russian shortrange tactical system with a range of up to 500 kilometersentered service in 2006 and finally retired the Tochkas in 2020.
Capable of launching ballistic and cruise missiles, it comes in three variants, the IskanderM, intended exclusively for Russian military use, the IskanderK, a specific system for launching the R500 cruise missiles, and the ‘IskanderE. The latter version has a shorter range of up to 270 kilometers and was developed for export. So far it has been delivered to Armenia and Algeria, but among the potential buyers who have expressed interest are the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Iran, Kuwait, South Korea, Malaysia and India.
The Russian military has 11 combat brigades with IskanderM systems as of 2019. A standard Iskander brigade includes 12 launchers and their support vehicles. The Moscow Armed Forces first used the system in 2008 in combat against Georgia.
What worries the West most are the IskanderM batteries stationed in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, from which the weapon could target NATO forces in Poland, the Baltic states and Sweden. After deploying units to Kaliningrad in response to US air defense strikes in the region in 2013, 2015 and 2016, Moscow decided in 2018 to deploy permanently to Kaliningrad.