Ukraine has stockpiled its own ballistic missiles

Defence affairs

On June 6, 2025, Ukraine announced a significant milestone in its defense capabilities, claiming it had built a stockpile of domestically produced ballistic missiles. This development could reshape its ongoing conflict with Russia.

The statement, attributed to Ukraine’s defense authorities, follows successful tests of a missile capable of striking targets nearly 300 kilometers away, with mass production now underway. This achievement marks a pivotal step for Kyiv, which has long relied on Western-supplied weapons to counter Moscow’s aggression.

The announcement echoed in social media posts on platforms like X, underscores Ukraine’s push to bolster its arsenal amid restrictions on using foreign missiles for deep strikes into Russian territory. As the war enters its fourth year, this new capability could enhance Ukraine’s ability to deter Russian advances and assert greater strategic autonomy.

The missile in question is widely believed to be the Hrim-2, also known as Sapsan in its export variant, a project rooted in Ukraine’s Soviet-era expertise in rocket technology. Developed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau and produced by Yuzhmash in Dnipro, the Hrim-2 is a short-range ballistic missile designed for precision strikes.

It boasts a range of approximately 280 to 500 kilometers, depending on its configuration, and carries a warhead weighing up to 500 kilograms. The missile’s guidance system likely combines inertial navigation with GPS corrections, enabling it to hit targets with high accuracy.

Its mobile launch platform typically mounted on a wheeled chassis, allows for rapid deployment and concealment, making it a challenging target for enemy forces. The Hrim-2’s design draws on decades of Ukrainian engineering, with roots tracing back to the Soviet R-12 and R-16 missiles, which were among the first to carry nuclear warheads.

Unlike its predecessors, the Hrim-2 is tailored for conventional warfare, offering Ukraine a tool to strike Russian military infrastructure, command posts, or supply lines at significant distances.

The origins of this milestone lie in Ukraine’s urgent need to reduce its dependence on Western military aid. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Kyiv has relied heavily on systems like the U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System [ATACMS] and the British-French Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles for long-range strikes.

However, these weapons come with restrictions, as Western allies, wary of escalation, have limited their use against targets deep inside Russia. “Our long-range capabilities are a clear and effective guarantee of Ukraine’s security,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 2, 2025, emphasizing the need to accelerate domestic missile production.

The successful test of a Ukrainian-made ballistic missile, first announced by Zelensky in August 2024, marked a turning point. Oleksii Petrov, director of Spetstechnoexport, later confirmed that flight tests of both cruise and ballistic missiles were yielding positive results, with plans for full-scale production by mid-2025.