Run-down town is launchpad for Russia's Oreshnik missile

Russian Oreshnik ballistic missiles have been fired at Ukraine from a restricted zone in the barren steppe of southeastern Russia. The most recent attack came on Sunday during a massive barrage that killed four people and injured many more, according to Ukrainian media.

The powerful, roughly $40 million missile caused only limited damage to a garage complex near Kyiv, and experts say the strikes appeared to use inert warheads. All three Oreshniks that struck Ukraine were launched from Kapustin Yar, a historic missile test range near the small town of Znamensk.

The town, with just under 30,000 inhabitants and lying about 700 miles east of Kyiv near the Kazakhstan border, is a closed administrative area: access is restricted, and residents receive passes bearing an ascending rocket. Images shared on social networks show Znamensk as dilapidated — wooden huts, unpaved roads, broken windows and a Lenin statue amid sagging power cables.

Russia, Znamensk

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