Moscow : As US, South Korea and Japan are taking offensive military steps to counter the mounting threat posed by North Korea, Russia too has been taking steps for its own defense. Russia has deployed a medium range, high tech multi-purpose ‘Buk-M3’ missile system in the province of Siberia, pointing in the direction of North Korea.

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Four days back, Russia’s Air Force division of the eastern military command deployed the ‘Buk-M3‘ missile system in the capital city Ulan-Ude of Buriyatia in the Siberian province. The installed system is 2130 miles from the Korean border, and as published by the Russian daily ‘Izvestia‘, it is for the first time that such a high-tech defense system has been deployed in the eastern region of Russia. No reason has been stated by the Russian military or the air force for the deployment of this missile. The Russian military analysts, however, have justified its deployment.

As North Korea has been continuously testing its ballistic missiles, these tests are making the situation explosive in the region. Further, the missiles launched by North Korea in the past month have crashed near the Russian and the Japanese coastlines. In this context, Japan has ordered its defense forces to stay on the alert while the three aircraft carriers and anti-missile destroyer ships of US have also been deployed in the region. Given this background, if at all the tensions in the Korean region result in a conflict then the deployment of this multi-purpose ‘Buk-M3’ system could prove beneficial to protect the Russian air space as well as its allies, so claims Russia.

Russia has been claiming that the like of its progressive missile ‘Buk-M3‘ has not been seen by US or other Western countries. The system has a capability of piercing 36 targets approaching towards it at the speed of 3000 meter per second, from 22 miles above or from a distance of 1.5 to 45 miles. At the same time, this system can target fighter planes, helicopters, cruise missiles, guided bombs and missiles launched from air. Likewise, the ’Buk-M3’ cannot be electronically jammed. The system gets activated in merely 20 seconds. As such, the system is incomparable, claim the Russian Government and its  military experts.

Till now Russia had deployed this system only on its western coast. By deploying the system ‘Buk-M3’ in the Siberian province, Russia has taken an apt decision, say the Russian military experts. If at all the situation in the Korean region worsens then ‘Buk-M3‘ would prove beneficial for the safety of important Russian locations in the Far East. ‘Buk-M3‘ was made open to the media for the first time at a military exhibition held in Moscow last year. Egypt had shown enthusiasm in buying this system.

In the meanwhile, Russia had taken a cautious  approach towards North Korea. Although Russia had criticised North Korea for the missile tests, yet Russia held the view that political negotiation would be the only way to keep the situation from blowing. At the same time, Russia too had opposed the deployment of ‘THAAD‘ by the US in South Korea against North Korea. Russia had expressed a concern  that the deployment of ‘THAAD’  by US  could be  harmful to Russian safety.

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