Israel conducted a test launch for a missile with a range of up to 1,800 kilometers, (1,118 miles) pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Rybar reported on Thursday. The missile reportedly was seen diving into the Mediterranean Sea east of the Island nation of Malta.
The Defense Ministry announced on Monday that it had carried out a pre-planned experimental launching of a propulsion system from a base in the center of the country.
Rybar, a pro-Russian Telegram channel and think tank, which sometimes serves as Moscow's channel for leaks, said the missile reached farther than the distance between Israel and Tehran. "Against the backdrop of escalation with Lebanon and statements on the Iranian side about possible involvement of their forces in the conflict, such a test seems symbolic," Rybar said.
Long-range missile test from Palmachim
The announcement from the Ministry of Defense on Monday morning was very brief. "Israel conducted a routine pre-scheduled test of a rocket system from Israel's coastal range. The test was carried out as planned."
Many in Israel photographed the missile's plume in the sky after the launch and flights did not land or take off from Ben Gurion Airport for the duration. There is very little information available publicly about the trial of the propulsion system, conducted amid Israel's war in Gaza.
Rybar linked the launch to the possibility of escalating the war in Lebanon, and even published an accurate map of the Israeli missile's trajectory.
It claimed that the launch took place from the Palmachim base and the missile landed about 1,800 km from the launch site. "We looked up the available data on air and sea reservations and indeed found flight and movement restrictions in the area east of the island nation for just those dates.," according to Rybar. "Given the distance from Israel, the flight of Shavit radio reconnaissance planes (they always fly nearby when testing missiles), and the lack of media coverage, the Israelis must have been testing something serious."
Moscow's publications channel
Rybar's Telegram channel has 1.1 million followers, has served as a source of information for Western media and security experts, and has been quoted by CNN and Bloomberg. The Chinese media reports on the war in Ukraine are often based on it.
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The Kremlin uses Rybar's information about the Russia-Ukraine War
(Photo: Dmitry Serebryakov/ AP, Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
The pro-Russian Telegram channel has also served as a medium for publishing sensitive materials by Moscow. For example, Rybar first published a video of a Russian 'nuclear train', which led to panic and headlines in Europe. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, locations of Ukrainian forces have also been published on the site and channel, and Rybar even boasted that the Russian army uses this information.