Russia Turns Training Missiles Into Deadly Weapons in Ukraine

Russia has reportedly converted training missiles into one of its most frequently used ballistic weapons against Ukraine, allowing Moscow to pressure the country’s depleted Patriot defenses while preserving more advanced missiles for a potential winter campaign. The RM48U, named after a Russian term meaning “target missile,” accounted for over half of the 228 ballistic and hypersonic weapons Russia launched at Ukraine in July and early August, Reuters reported, citing Ukrainian law enforcement officials, military intelligence and defense analysts.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The weapons are modified variants of Russia’s 48N6 surface-to-air missiles and are launched from S-400 air-defense systems. Originally intended as targets during air-defense exercises, the modified missiles now carry warheads and travel at high speed along a ballistic trajectory toward ground targets. They are less powerful and accurate than Russia’s short-range Iskander ballistic missiles. Their lower accuracy, however, can increase the danger to civilians when they are fired at or near populated areas. Reuters linked an RM48U missile to a strike on a railway station in Brovary near Kyiv that killed eight civilians in August. Ukrainian authorities confirmed the large-scale use of the missiles for the first time this summer, according to the report. Russia is also seeking to more than double annual production of RM48U missiles, from about 200 last year to 480 in 2026, Ukraine’s military intelligence said. Other Topics of Interest New Duma: Do the Russians Have a Choice? Voting in Russia’s parliamentary elections began on Friday morning. The agency estimates that Russia has more than 400 RM48U missiles in its arsenal, compared with roughly 100 Iskanders. Sidharth Kaushal, a senior research fellow at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said Russia could use RM48U launches to drain Ukraine’s stocks of interceptors for the US-made Patriot system. Their use also allows Moscow to conserve Iskander, North Korean KN-23 and Zircon missiles for a possible escalation of ballistic attacks during the winter, Kaushal said. Ukraine relies heavily on Patriot systems to intercept ballistic missiles, which fly faster than drones and cruise missiles. Supplies of the costly interceptors remain limited as Kyiv’s partners face growing demand for air-defense weapons in other regions, and Washington has backtracked from earlier pledges for Ukraine to produce them domestically. The use of RM48Us rose sharply in July as the number of Iskander missiles Russia launched dropped to 38, down from more than 100 the previous month, according to data cited by Reuters. The change suggests Russia is using the converted missiles to maintain the scale of its attacks without rapidly depleting its stocks of more accurate weapons. Although RM48Us are less precise, Ukraine must still treat them as ballistic threats and may have to use scarce interceptors against them, particularly when they are headed toward cities or critical infrastructure. That creates an unfavorable calculation for Kyiv: allowing a less accurate missile through could cost civilian lives, while intercepting it consumes a missile needed against a more advanced Russian weapon. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.