Russia is using inaccurate missiles that can miss by hundreds of meters to attack Ukrainian cities – and plans to scale them up

Russia is employing inaccurate missiles, such as the RM48U, that can miss targets by up to 300 meters, in attacks on Ukrainian cities, according to Ukrainian military intelligence. The missile, originally designed as a training target for air-defense crews, has been launched from S-400 air-defense systems against Ukrainian targets.

This development comes as Russia has significantly increased its use of ballistic missiles against Ukrainian cities in recent months, while Ukraine faces a shortage of interceptors needed to defend against them. In July and the first eight days of August, 87 of the 228 Russian missiles launched were RM48Us, according to Ukrainian data analyzed by Reuters.

The RM48U is estimated to deviate from its intended target by around 300 meters on average, making it less accurate than the Iskander, Russia's primary short-range ballistic missile. Despite its poor accuracy, the missile follows a high-speed ballistic trajectory, posing a threat to Ukrainian air defenses. Russia has launched more than triple the number of ballistic missiles in July and August compared to previous months, with the RM48U accounting for a growing portion of these strikes.

Meanwhile, Russia's use of the Iskander has declined sharply, indicating a shift towards using the less capable RM48U to sustain its ballistic missile campaign while conserving more advanced weapons. However, even the RM48U's misses can cause significant damage due to its large deviation and the distribution of metal fragments from its warhead.

Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians and claims it strikes military and strategic targets, but the lack of precision in the RM48U missile poses a significant danger to civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.