First posted on Instagram
Russia's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that its air defences intercepted four U.S.-made AGM-188A Rusty Dagger cruise missiles over the previous 24 hours, in what would be the first time Moscow has officially claimed to shoot down the weapon. The claim appeared in the ministry's daily briefing, which also listed six guided aerial bombs and 802 fixed-wing drones shot down over the same period.
The claim did not stay up. By Tuesday evening, no post naming the missile could be found on the ministry's main Telegram channel, and Defence Blog reported that the statement had been deleted from the ministry's official accounts without explanation. No reason was given for its removal, leaving open whether it was published in error, contained inaccurate information, or was withdrawn for another reason.
The AGM-188A Rusty Dagger is a low-cost, air-launched cruise missile built by Zone 5 Technologies under the U.S. Air Force's Extended Range Attack Munition programme, known as ERAM, developed on a fast timeline to give Ukraine a long-range strike weapon that can be produced in large numbers. Public data put its range at up to about 450 km (280 miles) and its warhead at 230 kg (500 pounds). The U.S. State Department approved the sale of up to 3,350 ERAMs to Ukraine in August 2025, in a deal estimated at $825 million.
The first suspected uses of the Rusty Dagger by Ukraine were reported by Russian military channels in June and August, but those reports could not be confirmed. Russian sources later said they had recovered parts from one of the missiles, and Moscow also said Ukraine used new AGM-188 missiles in a strike on a semiconductor plant in Voronezh.
Ukraine has not commented on the claim, and neither side's claims could be independently verified. The ministry provided no evidence, location or wreckage for any of the four missiles it said it shot down. If accurate, the claim would be the first official Russian acknowledgement that the missiles are being fired at targets inside Russia, and it would raise questions about the weapon's performance against advanced air defences — though its effectiveness cannot be judged from Russia's statement alone.