Moscow is preparing for a final test of a new ballistic missile capable of striking targets hundreds of miles away and potentially maneuvering in ways that could challenge Ukraine’s already strained air defenses, a defense analyst warned Monday.
The warning comes as Ukrainian military officials said that Russia could conduct the test in the coming months and potentially in live-fire strikes.
„According to our estimates, Russia plans to conduct final tests of a new type of ballistic missile with a range of up to 800 km by the end of this year,“ Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), said at a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council, according to Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda.
„If, for instance, this 800-kilometer missile has more advanced maneuverability, well then that’s going to create greater problems for Ukraine in that they’re going to need the more sophisticated interceptors to get them,“ Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital.
RUSSIA DEPLOYS NORTH KOREAN MISSILE UNIT TO UKRAINE; MOSCOW-PYONGYANG AXIS DEEPENS: REPORT
„This means terminal maneuvers that weave a little bit so that the defender doesn’t quite know where it’s going or what trajectory it will have,“ Karako said.
„Another possibility is that they just figured out a way to make some kind of 800-kilometer missile more cheaply or in large numbers,“ the expert said of the Russians.
Karako said developments in precision-guided munitions, along with a broader shift away from unguided weaponry, could offer clues about the type of missile Russia will launch.
NEXT-GENERATION MISSILE DEFENSE AT MISSION SPEED
„Everyone is going for increased maneuverability,“ Karako explained. „Just about every gravity bomb that we have has some kind of terminal guidance for precision,“ he said, specifically of the U.S. arsenal.
„In a similar way, a moment’s not too far in the future where you don’t really have that many purely ballistic missiles.“
„You have things that may be ballistic for a good part of their path, but are also equipped with maneuvering reentry vehicles or some kind of terminal end game surprises,“ he warned.
Meanwhile, according to Ukraine’s DIU, Russian forces may try to strike targets in western Ukraine during the missile tests as a live-fire demonstration, which Karako said is standard practice in wartime.
„This is a business-as-usual arrangement where you might do lots of developmental testing and then formally field and then have your operational testing,“ the expert said.
RUSSIA UNLEASHES NEARLY 600 MISSILES AND DRONES ON KYIV IN DEADLIEST STRIKE SINCE MAY
„There are all kinds of norms being broken, though, because it is, after all, wartime, and so it may well be the case that some of this stuff is tested — maybe not the first time — but some of the early tests are done, frankly, in the field in Ukraine,“ he added.
The missile would, however, fall into a category once prohibited under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Karako warned.
Signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, the INF Treaty required the United States and the Soviet Union to eliminate ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (roughly 310 to 3,400 miles).
The United States withdrew from the treaty in 2019 amid alleged Russian violations.
„This range is one that was formerly prohibited by the INF Treaty that capped ballistic and cruise missiles at 500 kilometers in range,“ Karako said.
„To some extent, you see Russia filling that gap, which is understandable and reasonable. Of course, they were violating the INF Treaty, which was why the United States got out of it.“
PENTAGON PLOTS NEW NUCLEAR OPTIONS FOR TRUMP AS AMERICA’S BIGGEST ADVERSARIES RAISE STAKES: REPORT
Missiles and artillery have been central to Russia’s campaign against Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022. Ukrainska Pravda reported Aug. 10, citing Ukrainian military intelligence, that production of Russia’s primary missile types had reached between 110% and 120% of monthly targets.
According to the Kyiv Independent, Russia fired at least 1,858 missiles of various types at Ukraine from the start of 2026 through Aug. 27.
„This is what’s hitting Ukraine on a daily and weekly basis. And so it’s in that broader context of that demand for standoffs of various kinds that you see new things pop up,“ Karako said.
RUSSIA THREATENS STRIKES ON UK MILITARY TARGETS, ‘CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES’ OVER UKRAINE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the growing strain on air defenses in an interview with Deutsche Welle at a Canadian military base in North Bay Sept. 12.
„I want to have 100-120 [interceptor missiles] for these difficult months, especially the cold months,“ Zelenskyy said. „We’ll see how many months this winter lasts — that is, these cold months: one, two, three. We don’t know. This is truly a major challenge.“
„It is the case that Russia really is on a wartime footing, and they really have mobilized their defense industrial base to be cranking these (missiles) out like sausages,“ Karako said.
„There was a point in which everything was going to the front, everything was going to Ukraine.“
„There have been other reports more recently that suggest that Russia may be keeping some in reserve,“ Karako added.
„There are lots of worries. If you’re in Poland, if you’re in Romania, if you’re in the Baltics, you’re worried about the Russians.“
Russia readies new 500-mile missile as weapon expert warns of ‘terminal end game surprises’ 2026
IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2026 2026-09-14 20:48:39
Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
