Insight: Russia adapts a training missile to lead its ballistic onslaught of Ukraine

Russia has increasingly used the RM48U, a target missile derived from the S-400 air-defense family, as a ballistic strike weapon against Ukraine while stocks of higher-value missiles remain constrained. Ukrainian analysis cited by Reuters found RM48Us represented more than half of 228 ballistic and hypersonic launches in July and the first eight days of August, although their average miss distance was about 300 metres. The adaptation adds volume and complicates interception, but provides less accuracy and destructive effect than Iskander missiles, and the Ukrainian figures were not independently verified.