Ukraine strikes Iskander launcher near border in hunt for Russian missile sites

“Today we have another success. We cannot provide many details because of the operation’s sensitivity, but a fact is a fact. We struck an Iskander launcher near our borders. I am grateful to our warriors who are carrying this out. That is our operation to hunt down their systems positioned nearby,” Zelenskyy said.

With ballistic missile defenses in short supply, Ukraine has developed a tactic of hunting Russian missile launch sites, he said.

“So this is one of the options when we have very few anti-ballistic missiles: There is another tactic, a more difficult one that we developed — hunting their nearby sites from which they launch ballistic missiles. This is a separate story, a separate program, a separate operation. And today we managed to do it. Our Defense Forces did a great job,” the president added.

Russia continues to increase its production and use of ballistic missiles against Ukraine, BBC News Ukraine reported. This comes as Kyiv faces a severe shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles that could help counter the threat.

Russia launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles in July, a count that also included S-400 surface-to-air missiles and hypersonic Zircon and Oniks missiles, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said. It was a record since the start of the war.

“Military personnel know they need to destroy the enemy’s launchers and thereby reduce strikes on Ukrainian strategic infrastructure. They are doing this and will continue to do so,” President Zelenskyy said on Aug. 5.