New Footage Shows Russia’s Iskander Ballistic Missiles Destroying Ukraine’s Arms Warehouses

Military Watch:

New Footage Shows Russia’s Iskander Ballistic Missiles Destroying Ukraine’s Arms Warehouses

April-26th-2022

Russian Iskander Ballistic Missile Launch


On April 25 the Russian Defence Ministry published a video showing Iskander tactical ballistic missile strikes on warehouses storing Ukrainian military equipment, as precision strikes have consistently prioritised neutralising newly delivered weapons from Western countries.

The performance of Russia’s missile forces has been a major strong point in its military campaign in Ukraine, which began on February 24, with precision guided missiles have been used to engage targets up to the Ukrainian-Polish border including not only arms shipments but also bases for Western combatants entering the country. Ukraine has received growing Western support in the form of arms shipments, which has escalated to include tanks, artillery, and mobile air defence systems.

Russia’s only class of ground launched tactical ballistic missile the Iskander-M has seen a new capability unveiled in Ukraine, a penetration aid designed to confuse enemy ballistic missile defences. The missile itself deploys from mobile launch vehicles, can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads, and has been developed into a much longer ranged hypersonic air launched platform as the Kh-47M2 which saw its first combat use in Ukraine. 

The Iskander itself previously saw combat in both counterinsurgency campaigns in Syria and in Russia’s 2008 war effort against Georgia.

Ukraine has itself launched ballistic missile strikes on Russian targets using the older Tochka missile system, which dates back to the mid 1970s and which the Iskander was designed to replace, with its most notable success being the reported destruction of a single Russian Su-30SM fighter in an attack on a Russian airbase near the border in the war's opening hours. 

Ukraine's Tochka arsenal has played a relatively negligible role in the war thus far, however, with the Iskander as well as ship launched Kalbr cruise missiles playing a vital role in eroding Ukrainian military capabilities.