#5 - RW 267
The Hindu (India)
July 31, 2003
Russia boosts strategic arsenal
By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW JULY 30. Russia has beefed up its strategic arsenals with the purchase from Ukraine of 30 long-range missiles.

The RS-18 missiles, called SS-19 by NATO, are capable of carrying six nuclear warheads each. They were part of 160 nuclear-tipped strategic missiles Ukraine inherited after the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Ukraine, which renounced its nuclear status, handed over the warheads to Russia and destroyed 130 missiles, but retained 30 for use as space boosters. Russia has bought the missiles from Ukraine over the past two years, a defence industry source told the Itar-Tass news agency on Tuesday.

The acquisition came closely on the heels of Moscow's decision to retain its multiple-warhead missiles in response to the U. S. withdrawal last year from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. This would allow Russia to maintain an overall strategic balance with the U. S. even if the latter succeeds in building a missile shield over its territory in the foreseeable future.

The missiles purchased from Ukraine will be kept as a backup reserve to replace similar Russian missiles that are being decommissioned due to their old age, Itar-Tass said. The agency quoted defence industry experts as saying that the Ukrainians missiles can be kept in service for another 30 years.

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