YEREVAN, DECEBER 5, ARMENPRESS. The Russian military has changed its mind on supplying Azerbaijan the SSC-6 'Sennight' coastal missile system, a version of the Kh-35 turbojet subsonic cruise anti-ship missile, according to Kommersant newspaper.

According to the newspaper, Russian military officials found that even the export variant of the missile system might pose a potential threat for their own navy vessels in the Caspian sea that are on-duty in Russian territorial waters.

A source familiar with the matter told Kommersant that Russia and Azerbaijan had initialed the deal on a small batch of the systems and a few dozen missiles, however the agreement was never signed.

Kommersant reported that the topic isn’t discussed yet because “a very delicate geopolitical nuance exists”. In recent years, the X-35 missile warhead’s guidance system has been modified to strike also land targets. “We wouldn’t want this weapon to be used in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” the source told Kommersant.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan