Ukraine may have used homegrown ballistic missile against Russia for first time
Russia claimed it had intercepted a Ukrainian ballistic missile (illustrative photo: video screenshot)
Ukraine may have used its own long-range ballistic missile in combat for the first time to strike targets inside Russia, Bloomberg reports.
Journalists drew attention to the latest report from the Russian Ministry of Defense. In it, the Russian ministry claims that over the past 24 hours, its air defenses allegedly intercepted a "long-range operational-tactical missile," as well as seven aerial bombs and more than 600 drones.
At the same time, Moscow did not specify the type of missile or provide any details about the incident. The Ukrainian side has also not officially confirmed the use of a ballistic missile.
The agency noted that the Russian statement came amid news from the Ukrainian defense company Fire Point. The company recently announced that its FP-9 ballistic missile is already approaching the flight testing stage.
The company's chief designer, Denys Shtilerman, previously said that the tests could begin this summer or in early autumn. According to preliminary data, the FP-9 ballistic missile was developed specifically for strikes deep inside Russia and has a range of about 850 kilometers.
"If confirmed, the firing of a ballistic missile would mark a new step in Kyiv's effort to expand its domestically produced long-range strike capabilities beyond drones and cruise-type systems," Bloomberg noted.
Denys Shtilerman previously said that Fire Point is accelerating the development of a missile defense system. According to him, the first interceptor missiles are expected to be produced by the end of this year.
At the same time, Fire Point recently successfully conducted the first test of its FP-7.X interceptor missile, which will serve as the base platform for the Freya project. During flight, it is capable of reaching speeds of 1,500 to 2,000 meters per second.
