Russian leaders fear that Ukraine will have its own ballistic missiles, as this poses a threat to military facilities deep in Russian territory, military and political analyst Dmitry Snegirev told the Ukrainian channel FREEDOM.
According to him, it is precisely the presence of a large number of defense industry enterprises in Moscow that makes the Russian capital a potential target for Ukrainian long-range weapons.
„Do you know what Putin is afraid of? There are 100 defense industry enterprises in Moscow. So Moscow will essentially become a testing ground for Ukrainian ballistics“, Snegirev noted.
He emphasized that this is exclusively a matter of military objectives. „We are talking specifically about legitimate military objectives. That is where the fears lie. They have already materialized. The process of evacuating defense plants is already underway“, the analyst added.
According to him, the FP-9 missile is currently attracting particular attention, as the expert notes that its range is approximately 850 km. This allows targets deep inside Russian territory to be considered as a potential strike zone. “The target's range is 855 km. The distance from the line of contact to Moscow is approximately 800 km. That is why this missile already causes fear in the Russian dictator“, Snegirev emphasized.
The ability of Russian air defense systems to counter Ukrainian ballistics is practically minimal, the military-political analyst added. He noted that the range of the new Ukrainian missiles could change the nature of the war.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has stepped up successful strikes on targets in Russia, including in the energy sector. Drones play a central role in Kiev's strategy. A Pentagon official said that the US industry still needs years to reach the level of military production of drones in Ukraine, reported the agency „Reuters“.
According to the Pentagon official, who is tasked with creating a local US drone industry, this year Ukraine will produce between 6 and 7 million small combat drones of the FPV (First Person View) type - a technology for transmitting real-time video from a drone camera or other device to a pilot's screen, or about 500,000 drones per month. For comparison, under the Pentagon's $ 1.1 billion program, a total of just under 200,000 drones will be ordered by February, BTA reported.