Ukrainian forces strike Russian Iskander missile launcher near the border

23.08.2026, 21:33 rubryka.com

According to the head of state, details of the operation are not being disclosed due to its sensitivity.

"Today we have another success. We cannot provide many details due to the sensitivity of the operation, but the fact is the fact. We struck an Iskander launcher near our borders.

I am grateful to our warriors who carry this out. This is our operation to hunt down their systems located nearby," Zelenskyi said.

He noted that striking Russian launchers is one of the ways to counter missile attacks.

"This is one of the ways when we have limited anti-ballistic missiles — there is another tactic, it is more difficult, we developed it — hunting down their nearby points from which ballistic missiles are launched. This is a separate matter, a separate program, a separate operation. And today we managed to do it. Our Defense Forces did a great job," the president added.

Zelenskyi also spoke about Russia's ballistic missile production capacity. According to him, Russia could produce up to 1,300 such missiles per year.

"I believe Russia could have up to 1,300 ballistic missiles per year. They currently have 600–630. We roughly understand the volume they are planning from now until the end of winter. They could have approximately 100 ballistic missiles per month. But they do not have that many yet," he said.

According to the president, Ukraine's Defense Forces are working to weaken Russia's military industry. In particular, they have been tasked with striking military targets and taking other measures aimed at countering the production of ballistic missiles.

"I named the most frightening figure — we believe it is 1,300 missiles. They would like to have 100 ballistic missiles per month. Because we have started intercepting other missiles quite well. Our fighter jets are doing it, and IRIS-T has been added — we have the relevant systems, missiles for them are arriving to counter Russian cruise missiles, and Hawk air defense systems — we intercept cruise missiles with many different systems.

But ballistic missiles are ballistic missiles. Now we are working to make sure there are not 1,300 of them — to reduce this number," Zelenskyi added.

The president also spoke about another area of work by the Ukrainian military — operations aimed at preventing Russia from carrying out planned missile strikes.

According to Zelenskyi, there have recently been cases when Russia planned to launch an attack but ultimately did not carry out the expected strike. He emphasized that this is not a coincidence, but the result of the work of Ukraine's Defense Forces.

"There is another area in which we are working. I think you have seen recently that at some point they planned an attack, but did not carry it out. This is not a coincidence. In other words, we are working to prevent them from carrying out massive missile attacks. These are separate, complex operations, and now we have begun to see the first results, which, of course, are still insufficient, but this is a certain path, and we are taking our steps," he said.

What is known about the Freyja project

As a reminder, on July 9, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi spoke about the Ukrainian anti-ballistic project "Freyja". The head of state said that the Ukrainian anti-ballistic system project would be implemented together with European partners. According to him, the system is intended to become a more affordable and cheaper alternative to Patriot for intercepting ballistic targets.

As Rubryka reported, on July 13, Ukraine together with nine European countries announced the launch of the Anti-Ballistic Coalition. Its members plan to jointly develop capabilities to defend against ballistic missiles and strengthen defense cooperation.

The founding members of the initiative are Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. The Anti-Ballistic Coalition remains open to other countries that share its principles and are ready to contribute to the development of a joint missile defense system.

That same day, the head of state said that the Ukrainian anti-ballistic project "Freyja could move into practical application as early as next year.