On the night of January 20, russians carried out another massive long-range attack using hypersonic, ballistic, and cruise missiles, as well as drones. According to a report from the Ukrainian Air Force Command, a total of 34 missiles of various types were used, along with 339 UAVs, approximately 250 of which were Shahed drones.
Of these, 14 of 18 ballistic missiles launched from the Iskander-M and S-300/400 systems, 13 of 15 Kh-101 cruise missiles launched from strategic aircraft, and 315 of 339 long-range drones were destroyed.
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This attack was the first episode of the use of a new ersatz ballistic missile, the RM-48U. It is a standard target missile for the S-300 and S-400 air defense systems, manufactured on the basis of old conventional 5V55 or 48N6 missiles, which have already reached the end of their service life. However, last night, russians launched it to strike a ground target.
Defense Express obtained photos of the RM-48U debris from its own sources. The question of whether the missile had a warhead is currently being clarified. It is possible that these missiles were launched as decoys, but the possibility that they carried warheads cannot be ruled out.
It should be noted that the 5V55 missile carries a 133 kg warhead, while the 48N6 varies between 143 and 180 kg depending on the variant. The longest-range 48N6DM variant can exceed 200 km when launched on a ballistic trajectory, provided radio control is lost at an altitude of approximately 3 km, but without the ability to strike targets accurately.
The enemy also used a Zircon hypersonic missile, which was launched from the temporarily occupied Crimea. According to available information, the launch was made in the direction of Vinnytsia.
Most likely, this missile was perceived by certain monitoring channels as a launch of a new long-range ballistic missile, referred to as Iskander-I. At the same time, the name Iskander-I does not appear in russian sources, although it is known that the Iskander-1000 is being developed and that attempts have allegedly been made to start mass production. Its use in Ukraine has not been confirmed.
Another feature of the attack was the use of new Kh-101 cruise missiles. The serial numbers on one of the downed Kh-101s indicate that it was manufactured in the first quarter of 2026. This suggests that it could have been manufactured no more than 19 days ago and was installed on the aircraft directly from the factory.
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