Old Ukrainian-made missiles from the USSR, often without an explosive charge, are fired by Russian troops at Ukrainian targets. This conclusion was reached by Ukrainian intelligence agencies in cooperation with the United States and Great Britain after studying fragments of the Kh-55 subsonic missile, which was developed in the 1970s to carry a nuclear warhead and launch from bombers.

The missile was part of a batch of weapons delivered Russia from Ukraine in the 1990s under an international agreement guaranteeing the sovereignty of Ukraine. Last month, Ukrainians discovered the remains of two more of these missiles – both without an explosive charge – also from Ukrainian stockpiles that Russia received three decades ago.

Thus, Moscow seems to be using Ukrainian weapons as “bait” against Ukraine. The launch of any such “bulletless” missile obliges the Ukrainian air defense to mobilize, unnecessarily occupying it.

false target

“First, they launch the Kh-55 missile, and we react to it. But this is a false target, ”says General Skibitsky of the Ukrainian military counterintelligence. After Ukrainian air defense intercepts the first missiles, the Russians launch a second wave with more modern missiles and warheads.

Russia’s use of old Ukrainian cruise missiles was made possible by the Budapest Memorandum, under which Ukraine agreed to decommission its nuclear arsenal – the third largest at the time, inherited from the USSR – and transfer all nuclear warheads to Russia for destruction. In return, Kyiv received assurances of its security.

“All ballistic missiles and Tu-160 and Tu-95 long-range bombers have been delivered. Today they use the same bombers and fire the same missiles at us. It would be better if we handed them over to the United States,” General Sibitsky says and continues: “According to our calculations, they still have a stockpile of missiles for three to five waves, each wave will have 80 to 90 missiles.”

Last Monday, the Russian military fired more than 70 rockets into Ukraine in response to the bombing of two military installations deep inside Russian territory. Although stocks of advanced Russian missiles are estimated to have been significantly reduced, General Sibitsky estimates that the Russian defense industry has built 240 Kh-101 precision-guided missiles and about 120 warship-launched Kalibr missiles since the start of the war, with a monthly production capacity of 40 missiles. .

Construction continues

Russia continues to build precision-guided missiles despite Western sanctions. Yuti Inat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, said that after the latest attack, pyrotechnics found fragments indicating that modern missiles were fired from Russian factories last month. “Russia uses the latest missiles,” the general said.

As the Russians seek to build up their arsenal, the Ukrainians are getting better at detecting and shooting down Russian missiles. Recently, the Ukrainian military released data according to which 70% of Russian missiles are shot down by air defense systems.