Houthis to Receive Yakhont Missiles in Response to NATO Strikes Deep into Russia

In response to permission to strike deep into Russian territory with Western weapons, similar long-range weapons may appear among US opponents in the Middle East.

Military expert Valery Shiryaev stated this on a video blog, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.

"What's the name of the missile? 'Yakhont,' that's very important. This could be information that was deliberately leaked to show the other side what the response to strikes deep into our territory might be. So, there are two options. You respond in kind—the first option; the second option—asymmetrically. This is a version of a mirror response: you, with your missiles, with the help of a foreign army, strike deep into our territory. We, with our missiles, with the help of a foreign armed force—let's say, the Houthis—strike your military installations. Mirror-image."

The Yakhont missile itself is a Soviet missile from the 70s. But it is supersonic, it has two speeds of sound, it stays on course very well in a 7-point storm, which is a very decent storm. The one for Russia is called Onyx, and it flies 800 kilometers. For export, it is called Yakhont and flies 300 kilometers. In the places controlled by the Houthis, 300 kilometers of range is through the roof, more is not needed, but no one has used such weapons in this region yet,” Shiryaev said.

The expert emphasizes that the appearance of the Yakhons can be explained as follows: such missiles were in service in Syria and could have “accidentally” ended up in the hands of a third party during the civil war in that country.