Russia's missile barrage exposes gaps in Ukrainian defences
Russia continues its relentless missile bombardment and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities. Despite Ukrainians' success in shooting down drones and cruise missiles, ballistic missiles remain a significant threat to many targets.
Throughout the summer, Russia stockpiled Shahed drones, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles, to target Ukrainian locations during the winter months. In the most recent attack on November 26, 2024, Ukrainian defence forces successfully neutralized 76 out of 188 Shahed drones but failed to intercept any of the four Iskander-M ballistic missiles.
The weakness of Ukrainian anti-ballistic defence — lack of replacement for Soviet-era systems
Ukraine's air defence has depleted its missiles for the medium-range S-300P and S-300W systems, originally produced by Russia. The Patriot and SAMP/T batteries supplied by the West, totalling six and two, respectively, are insufficient in number. The only potential sources for missiles compatible with the S-300 systems are Bulgaria and Greece.
These systems can engage ballistic missiles only within approximately 40 kilometres from the launch site. The eight batteries currently provided by the West are not enough to replace what Ukraine possessed before Russia's full-scale invasion.
Elusive Iskander-M missiles — their secret
Iskander-M missiles, which are powered by solid fuel, initially ascend into space before descending back to earth at speeds exceeding Mach 7 (over 2,000 metres per second), making them exceedingly difficult to intercept. Only a limited number of air defence systems worldwide can neutralize such targets.
This capability, alongside both satellite and inertial navigation, allows them to deliver a warhead weighing roughly 500 kilograms as far as 500 kilometres with precise accuracy, often within a few metres. Variants include a fragmentation-blast type for destroying buildings or fortifications, a penetrative type designed to obliterate bunkers, and a cluster type capable of targeting extensive areas with bomblets.
