Ukraine has been battered by Russia’s ballistic missiles in recent weeks, including a major barrage launched at Kyiv on Monday, hours after U.S. diplomats left the city.
And now, Ukraine is claiming that Russia is preparing a new type of ballistic missile and will test it by the end of the year, possibly on Western Ukraine.
Skyfall Missile Russian Flying Chernobyl. Russian Government/Screenshot.
Ukraine claims the new weapon will have a range of up to 800 kilometers (500 miles).
According to Kyiv Post, which cited a Telegram post by Maj. Gen. Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR), Ukraine made that claim in a recent meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council.
“According to our estimates, Russia plans to conduct final tests of a new type of ballistic missile with a range of up to 800 kilometers by the end of this year,” Skibitsky said, per the Telegram post.
Skibitsky also called on Ukraine’s allies to strengthen sanctions against Russia, including by restricting its access to foreign-made components.
In the same briefing, per Kyiv Post, Skibitsky said that Russia lost 43,000 military personnel in August, while recruiting only 39,000 to replace them.
This is why a new Russian mobilization this fall is a possibility, although President Vladimir Putin and other top Russian leaders have denied that one is planned.
“Russia has not abandoned its strategic goal of destroying Ukrainian statehood and is waging a war of attrition despite heavy losses,” Skibitsky added in the briefing.
Ukraine’s Own Ballistic Missile Progress
Also this week, CBS News wrote about Ukraine’s own efforts to develop a ballistic missile, which the drone and missile manufacturer Fire Point is working on.
Per CBS, Iryna Terekh, Fire Point’s CEO, said that the company is currently “just months away from deploying Ukraine’s first domestically designed and manufactured ballistic missile.” Ballistic missiles travel much higher than cruise missiles and are therefore more difficult to intercept, which has been a major challenge for Ukraine when Russia has struck its cities with its own ballistic missiles.
The CBS profile of Fire Point also discussed how Ukraine has evolved from a recipient of foreign defense aid to a country that makes its own technology and has even served as an example for other countries.
“We need to ensure that Ukraine will stop just being a breadbasket for the world,” Terekh told CBS, while referencing the country’s traditional role as an exporter of grains. “Now we have something to offer which is much more valuable, and the defense industry is a huge driver for this.”
Ukraine’s Ballistic Strategy
Also this week, The Economist wrote about how Ukraine and its European allies are working to “counter” Russia’s ballistic missiles.
“Ukraine is working on building its own drone interceptors to stop the jet drones. But the problem of ballistic missiles is even harder,” the report said of Ukraine.
“Out of 57 launched in the first eight days of August, only one is known to have been shot down.
The Ukrainians ceased publishing the morale-sapping statistics until August 28th, when they reported that seven ballistic missiles were intercepted the previous night.” That’s because while Ukraine is running out of interceptors, Russia has upped production of its ballistic missiles.
Ukraine has another plan, the “Freyja” project, in which Ukraine is working with European allies to build its own interceptors.
Described as a “moonshot,” the project is to “give Ukraine and its European allies a much lower-cost, higher-volume alternative to the pac-3 that will work with NATO-standard radars and data links.” And Fire Point is the “lead developer” of that project, the Economist said.
The company said it could be ready for its first interception by mid-2027, although experts have called that timeline optimistic.
“For now, Ukraine is pursuing the only two options it has left,” The Economist concluded about the ongoing efforts. “The first is to harden and conceal infrastructure and industrial targets, while ensuring a sufficient supply of spare parts.
The second is a so-called ‘left-of-launch’ strategy to reduce the number of missiles available to Russia by hitting the factories that make them and striking their launchers before they can be fired.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
