Russia apparently moves Kinzhal missiles and aircraft to launch them to Belarus - British MoD

Russia could have deployed Kinzhal missiles to Belarus. Satellite data shows that MiG-31K FOXHOUND jets were "almost certainly" parked at Belarus' Machulishchi airfield on 17 October, with a large canister stored nearby.

The canister is probably associated with the AS-24 KILLJOY (Kinzhal) air-launched ballistic missile, a munition that the MiG-31K is adapted to carry. It has a range of over 2,000 km, giving the Russians a slight extra advantage in hitting additional targets in Ukraine.

“Russia has fielded KILLJOY since 2018, but it has not previously been deployed in Belarus. Russia has occasionally launched these weapons during the Ukraine war, but stocks are likely very limited,” the British Ministry of Defence believes.

Russia continues to use its advanced long-range munitions against targets of limited operational importance. British intelligence does not rule out that the Russians have deployed this munition in Belarus to show the West that Minsk is becoming increasingly complicit in the war.

During the full-scale invasion, Russia has fired several times at Ukraine with aeroballistic Kinzhals - the newest type of missiles available to the enemy army.