Russia has increased strikes on Ukraine with converted S-400 missiles - Reuters
Russia has sharply increased its use of RM48U missiles against Ukraine, which were originally created as training targets for air defense crew exercises. In July and early August they accounted for more than half of all ballistic and hypersonic missiles fired by the Russian Federation at Ukraine.
Reuters reports this, citing data from Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, military intelligence and military analysts from the Office of the Prosecutor General. The mass use of such missiles allows Russia to maintain a high intensity of shelling while saving more modern Iskanders and other long-range missiles.
According to the data seen by the agency, in July and the first eight days of August Russia fired 228 ballistic and hypersonic missiles at Ukraine. More than half of them were RM48U.
In July, 158 strikes with ballistic and hypersonic missiles were confirmed, with 87 of them being RM48U. In the first eight days of August, Russia used another 70 such missiles, 36 of which were RM48U. It was in the summer of 2026 that their use on such a scale was first confirmed.
Russia saves Iskanders
Against the backdrop of a sharp increase in the use of RM48U, the number of Iskanders launched has decreased. In July, Russia used 38 such missiles compared to more than 100 a month earlier.
Sidharth Kaushal, a senior research fellow at the British Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), believes that the use of less sophisticated missiles allows Moscow to save Iskanders, North Korean KN-23s and hypersonic Zircons for more important targets.
He estimates that Russia may also be stockpiling more accurate missiles ahead of the winter period, when strikes on Ukrainian energy and other critical infrastructure are expected to intensify.
An additional goal of the mass launches of RM48U may be to deplete Ukraine's limited stock of interceptor missiles. Reuters notes that Ukraine is experiencing an acute shortage of Patriot interceptors — the only system it has capable of effectively countering Russian ballistic missiles.
RM48U launched from S-400 systems
RM48U is launched from Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems. Initially, such missiles were used as targets during air defense unit training, but Russia began restoring decommissioned anti-aircraft and training missiles and converting them into strike weapons.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine previously reported that RM48U is a kind of combination of elements of several missiles. It received a solid-fuel engine from the 48N6DM anti-aircraft missile for the S-400, a tail section from the 48N6E2, and individual components of other Russian missiles.
According to the GUR, the range of RM48U reaches 400 km, speed is Mach 4–6, and the mass of the high-explosive fragmentation warhead is 199 kg. Inertial and satellite navigation systems are used for guidance.
Accuracy much lower than Iskander
The main drawback of RM48U remains its low accuracy. According to Ukrainian military experts cited by Reuters, the average deviation of the missile from the intended target is about 300 meters.
At the same time, the warhead scatters lethal metal fragments over a large area, so the use of such weapons increases the risk to objects and people near the intended target.
Ukrainian investigators link RM48U to a number of strikes that caused significant civilian casualties. In particular, experts concluded that it was such a missile that on August 5 hit the area of a railway platform in the Brovary district of Kyiv region, where eight people died. Reuters notes that it could not independently verify the conclusions of the Ukrainian investigation.
Dozens of Western components found in the missile
On September 10, the GUR revealed the design of RM48U and the production chain of this missile. Intelligence identified 63 Russian enterprises involved in its production.
Components of foreign manufacturers were identified in the missile's electronic blocks. According to the GUR, 95 of the 117 detected components originate from the United States, and several more are from Taiwan, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea and France.
The Russian Ministry of Defense did not answer Reuters' questions about the use of RM48U. Russian authorities traditionally claim that they strike only military targets, although Russian missile and drone attacks regularly lead to civilian deaths and destruction of civilian infrastructure.
Based on materials from: Reuters, Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, War&Sanctions
