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Facing severe Patriot interceptor shortages, Ukraine is shifting tactics from intercepting incoming Russian ballistic missiles to proactively hunting down mobile Iskander launchers before they fire. Following a successful precision strike near the border confirmed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kyiv is targeting Russia's mobile launch infrastructure to dismantle the threat at its source. Discover how Ukraine is using deep-strike operations to counter escalation.
⏱️ CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Ukrainian Forces Strike Russian Iskander Missile Launcher
01:25 - Russian Iskander Ballistic Missile 500km Range Threat
02:50 - Ukraine Targets Russian Launch Sites to Save Interceptors
04:15 - Volodymyr Zelenskyy Asks Elon Musk for Starlink Strikes
05:45 - Ukraine Faces Critical Patriot Air Defense Missile Shortage
07:15 - Russia Fires Record Ballistic Missiles at Kyiv Infrastructure
08:45 - Germany Pledges 600 Patriot Interceptor Missiles to Ukraine
10:15 - Ukrainian Middle Strike Drones Isolate Russian Occupied Crimea
11:45 - Ukrainian Drones Target Wildberries and Ozon Logistics Hubs
13:15 - Ukrainian Counteroffensive Liberates 745 Square Kilometers of Territory
15:00 - Can Ukraine Destroy Russia Iskander Ballistic Missile Launchers?
Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join
#militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis
#themilitaryshow
SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/TD06iYGr
Facing severe Patriot interceptor shortages, Ukraine is shifting tactics from intercepting incoming Russian ballistic missiles to proactively hunting down mobile Iskander launchers before they fire. Following a successful precision strike near the border confirmed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kyiv is targeting Russia's mobile launch infrastructure to dismantle the threat at its source. Discover how Ukraine is using deep-strike operations to counter escalation.
⏱️ CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Ukrainian Forces Strike Russian Iskander Missile Launcher
01:25 - Russian Iskander Ballistic Missile 500km Range Threat
02:50 - Ukraine Targets Russian Launch Sites to Save Interceptors
04:15 - Volodymyr Zelenskyy Asks Elon Musk for Starlink Strikes
05:45 - Ukraine Faces Critical Patriot Air Defense Missile Shortage
07:15 - Russia Fires Record Ballistic Missiles at Kyiv Infrastructure
08:45 - Germany Pledges 600 Patriot Interceptor Missiles to Ukraine
10:15 - Ukrainian Middle Strike Drones Isolate Russian Occupied Crimea
11:45 - Ukrainian Drones Target Wildberries and Ozon Logistics Hubs
13:15 - Ukrainian Counteroffensive Liberates 745 Square Kilometers of Territory
15:00 - Can Ukraine Destroy Russia Iskander Ballistic Missile Launchers?
Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join
#militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis
#themilitaryshow
SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/TD06iYGr
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NewsTranscript
00:01It's no secret that Ukraine faces some serious challenges when trying to deal with Russia's ballistic missiles.
00:07Those missiles keep coming and Ukraine lacks the interceptors it needs to shoot them down.
00:12Does that mean that Russia is winning this aspect of the war?
00:15Maybe it was a few weeks ago, but ever able to adapt,
00:18Ukraine has decided to tackle Russia's ballistic missiles a different way.
00:22If you can't take them down in the sky, destroy them before they are able to launch.
00:26Ukraine has found a genius way to destroy dozens of Russian missiles with a single blow.
00:32But even more than that, we're seeing Ukraine continue its transformation from a defensive nation
00:37to one capable of going on an all-out offensive to achieve victory.
00:41It all starts close to the border between Russia and Ukraine.
00:45On August 22nd, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed
00:49that the Ukrainian military had carried out a successful strike
00:52against an Iskander ballistic missile launch site somewhere along the border.
00:57Today, we have another success.
00:59We cannot provide many details because of the operation's sensitivity.
01:03But a fact is a fact.
01:04We struck an Iskander launcher near our borders, Zelenskyy declared.
01:08Ukraine's President didn't provide any more details.
01:11We don't know where the site was specifically.
01:13Zelenskyy says that's due to operational security concerns,
01:16as Ukraine doesn't want to give away too many details about how it's conducting these strikes.
01:20After all, details mean information that Russia can use to defend itself.
01:25On the surface, the strike against an Iskander launch site appears to be the headline.
01:30And we don't want to underplay the importance of the attack itself.
01:33Iskander ballistic missiles are some of the most lethal weapons that Russia brings to the table.
01:38Whenever we hear about the latest aerial attack carried out by Russia,
01:41we almost always hear that Iskanders were part of the strike.
01:44With their stated range of about 500 kilometers and the ability to deliver both conventional and nuclear warheads weighing up
01:51to 700 kilograms,
01:53Iskanders provide Russia with the ability to do a lot of damage,
01:57often against Ukrainian cities rather than military targets, in a single attack.
02:01Russia recognizes the importance of these particular weapons even more than Ukraine.
02:06Ballistic missiles like the Iskander are difficult to shoot out of the sky.
02:10They must be countered by special types of interceptor missiles.
02:14Knowing that Ukraine doesn't have stockpiles of those interceptors,
02:17Russia has gone all in on building as many as it can.
02:21According to the Kyiv Independent, Russia likely has between 600 and 630 ballistic missiles in its stockpile.
02:27Pravda adds that around 130 of Russia's ballistic missiles are Iskanders.
02:32And according to Zelensky, Russia could potentially produce up to 1,300 annually.
02:37Though Zelensky says that Russia hasn't reached that level of production yet.
02:41But it could.
02:42And that's a problem that Ukraine needs to solve.
02:45This is where the real headline that lies behind the Iskander launch site strike comes into play.
02:51It's the strategy behind this strike that really matters, not so much the strike itself.
02:55With this single attack, we've just seen Ukraine conduct a complete turnaround in its approach to Russia's ballistic missiles.
03:02Instead of being on defense, which is what you have to do when relying on interceptor missiles to shoot ballistic
03:07missiles out of the sky,
03:09Ukraine is instead going on the offense.
03:11It's attacking Russia's launch sites.
03:13Or to put it another way, Ukraine is going to start shooting the archers instead of the arrows.
03:18We made a bold claim at the beginning of the video that Ukraine has just figured out how to destroy
03:22dozens of missiles with a single blow.
03:24This is how you do it.
03:26The missiles don't have to be destroyed directly.
03:29Rather, Ukraine can focus on taking out the launchers.
03:31Without those launchers, the missiles become useless to Russia.
03:35Effectively destroying them in the sense that they can't be used to damage Ukraine anymore.
03:39And Zelensky says that this is precisely what Ukraine is going to be doing from now on.
03:43So this is one of the options when we have very few anti-ballistic missiles.
03:47There is another tactic, a more difficult one that we developed.
03:50Hunting their nearby sites from which they launch ballistic missiles.
03:54This is a separate story, a separate program, a separate operation.
03:57And today we managed to do it.
03:59Our defense forces did a great job, Zelensky said in the wake of the August 22 strike.
04:04This followed on from a similar declaration on August 5th, when Ukraine's president said that military personnel know that they
04:11need to destroy enemy launchers to reduce Russia's ballistic missile threat.
04:15This is a brilliant move by Ukraine.
04:17For one thing, it counters increased missile production, which has escalated in recent months due to Ukraine's interceptor stockpile shortages
04:24that we'll be getting to in a moment.
04:25But beyond that, there's the Iskander itself to consider.
04:29There's a reason why the launch site that Ukraine destroyed was close to the border.
04:32You may have picked up on that reason when we shared the Iskander's range.
04:36Iskander missiles can travel 500 kilometers.
04:39And while that might sound like a lot, what it means is that Russia is somewhat limited in where it
04:44can place its launchers for them to be usable.
04:46Crimea has Iskander launch sites, as do many of Russia's border regions.
04:50But beyond that, there's no point building any more as the Iskander can't travel far enough.
04:54For Ukraine, what this means is a narrowing down of its target area.
04:58The archers are easily in range of Ukraine's drones, so Ukraine's task is now to identify where the launch sites
05:04are.
05:05Once that information is at hand, Ukraine's drones can do the rest.
05:09Though Zelensky has shared this strategy as though it's brand new, there have been hints that Ukraine was trying something
05:14like what we've just heard about earlier in 2026.
05:17Back in April, Ukraine carried out a far-reaching strike that took out multiple Russian targets in Crimea, Donetsk and
05:24Zaporizhia.
05:25All in a day's work for Ukraine in 2026, as strikes against these occupied territories are carried out almost daily
05:31to weaken Russia's forces on the front.
05:33But what made this particular strike interesting was what happened in Crimea.
05:38Located near the settlements of Karotna and Miseria were a pair of bases that hosted Iskander missile systems.
05:44Both were home to launchers, and Ukraine took them out in its attack.
05:48Perhaps a hint of what was to come.
05:50Now, just a few months later, Ukraine has done it again.
05:53Only this time, the attack on an Iskander launcher wasn't an isolated incident.
05:58Zelensky says that Ukraine is going all in on its new strategy.
06:02And he signaled that intention by trying to call on the man who may be able to help Ukraine take
06:06out more Iskander launchers in the future.
06:09Elon Musk.
06:10That's according to the Financial Times, which says that Russia is now seeking approval from Musk and SpaceX to use
06:17Starlink-enabled drones for strikes against Russia's ballistic missile launchers up to 200 kilometers inside Russian territory.
06:23This is a big ask for Ukraine.
06:25Though SpaceX finally cut off Russia's use of illicit Starlink terminals inside Ukraine earlier in 2026, it has historically banned
06:33Ukraine from using Starlink-equipped drones inside Russia itself.
06:37Those drones are for defending Ukraine.
06:40Musk and SpaceX likely don't want to risk incurring Russia's wrath for allowing them to be used inside Russian territory.
06:46Zelensky hopes that he can change Musk's mind.
06:49As Zelensky put it on August 22nd,
06:52So far he has said that this constitutes an escalation.
06:54However, he may change his mind once he sees further arguments.
06:58Zelensky wants to present those arguments to the point where he even asked US President Donald Trump to speak to
07:03Musk on Ukraine's behalf when he visited the White House back in July.
07:07Even back then, the pitch was to allow strikes 200 kilometers beyond the border, and ballistic missile launch sites were
07:13named, along with command systems and other assets.
07:16Musk hasn't commented since Zelensky made it clear what he wants.
07:19For Ukraine, this Starlink permission could be huge for the new strategy.
07:24Due to using SpaceX satellites, which boast stronger connections than traditional radio links,
07:30Starlink enables drone operators to have their drones cover long distances while enjoying more resistance to jamming.
07:36Zelensky's challenge here is that the man who negotiated the Russian Starlink shutdown in February, Mikhailo Fedorov, is no longer
07:42Ukraine's defense minister.
07:44Fedorov has a direct link to Musk and may be able to present the arguments that Ukraine needs to present.
07:49But he hasn't returned to government, despite Zelensky offering him various government roles, including the position of Deputy Prime Minister.
07:57Fedorov might be the key to making Ukraine's new strategy work.
08:00At the very least, he could present the arguments for why Starlink should be allowed for strikes inside Russia.
08:05But even without him, Ukraine has just proven that it can take out an Iskander launch site.
08:10And if Ukraine can do it once, it can do it again.
08:13Ukraine needs to.
08:14This strategic transformation hasn't come out of nowhere.
08:17It's a shift in approach born from necessity rather than choice.
08:20But it's also a shift that reflects what Ukraine has been doing throughout 2026.
08:25Before we dig into all of that, this is a reminder that you're watching the military show.
08:28There's a lot more where this comes from, so make sure you subscribe and enable notifications if you're getting value
08:33from the channel.
08:34We'll be completely blunt here.
08:36Ukraine has a serious missile interceptor problem.
08:39If Ukraine has an Achilles heel in its fight against Russia, it's that it has to rely heavily on its
08:45Western partners for interceptor missiles that can be used to destroy Russia's ballistic missiles in flight.
08:50And chief among those interceptors are Patriot missiles.
08:53Ukraine basically doesn't have any of them left.
08:56CNN reports that Ukraine's stockpiles have run dry, meaning it has Patriot missile batteries, but they aren't able to do
09:03anything.
09:03It's the inverse of the problem that Ukraine wants to create for Russia.
09:07Ukraine has the launchers, but no missiles.
09:10It wants Russia to have its missiles, but no way to launch them.
09:13According to Zelensky himself, Ukraine needs 5% of the stockpile of Patriot missiles that the US has to survive
09:19the winter.
09:20Right now, it only has enough missiles to amount to 1% of that stockpile.
09:25This is the catalyst for Ukraine's change in approach.
09:28The lack of Patriot interceptors is already starting to cause major problems for Ukraine.
09:33Russian missiles rain down on Ukraine weekly, and they're causing a lot more death and destruction than they were earlier
09:39in the year.
09:40That's what Putin wants.
09:41The entire point of Russia's aerial campaign is to terrorize Ukraine, to cow its people into submission by breaking their
09:48morale and destroying their homes.
09:49The Guardian says that there is now a constant air of anxiety that clouds Kyiv, as Russian missiles break through
09:56the city's defenses with alarming regularity.
09:58The latest of those strikes, which took place on August 20th, left 17 people dead and several dozen wounded.
10:05Ukraine saw this coming.
10:06It started rationing its Patriot interceptor missiles as far back as April,
10:10which is when Euromiden Press reported that Ukraine was pulling Patriot crews mid-attack to preserve interceptor missiles for future
10:16Russian strikes.
10:18Ukraine has also started using Patriot interceptors in ways that were never intended,
10:22such as using a single missile to attack a target rather than the two to four that are typically required.
10:28On one hand, this shows just how competent Ukraine's Patriot crews have become,
10:32and it bodes well for a future where Ukraine has more interceptors.
10:36But on the other hand, it's a sign of how bad the Patriot shortage is.
10:40What we're seeing now from Ukraine is the adaptation.
10:43Something that Ukraine has mastered during its war with Russia is the ability to see a situation and come up
10:48with a novel solution
10:49when the original solution no longer works out.
10:52Attacking ballistic missile launch sites eases the pressure on Ukraine's depleted Patriot missile stockpiles.
10:57The immediate goal is to create a situation where Russia is unable to maintain its volume of attacks due to
11:03launchers being destroyed,
11:05allowing for the preservation of Patriot missiles for the fewer attacks that are unleashed.
11:09It's not the perfect situation for Ukraine, but it will do for now.
11:12Ukraine is working toward a future where it will be able to combine its targeting of Russia's ballistic missile launch
11:18sites
11:19with an air defense approach that includes Patriot missiles once more.
11:23Indeed, there are more Patriot missiles coming.
11:26According to TVP World, Ukraine and Germany have just signed a deal that will see Germany provide Ukraine with 600
11:32PAC-2 interceptor missiles.
11:34However, those missiles won't start arriving in Ukraine until 2027, and the full delivery may not be completed until 2028.
11:41That means they won't be coming in time for that crucial winter period that Zelensky mentioned.
11:46Again, that leads to the new strategy.
11:48If Ukraine can take out enough launch sites between now and the winter, Russia's threat diminishes,
11:53and the Patriot problem doesn't bite as hard.
11:57More will be needed, of course.
11:59Zelensky has made that much clear as he is calling on Western nations that implement new sanctions to cause more
12:04issues for Russia's defense supply chain.
12:06Pressure is needed on every supply chain for foreign components and every enterprise working to enable strikes against lives,
12:13Ukraine's president wrote on Facebook in an August 14 post.
12:16There is a clear logic to these calls.
12:19Russia needs to build its missiles and its launchers before it can attack Ukraine.
12:23With this new strategy, Ukraine takes out launch sites to render Russia's ballistic missiles useless.
12:28What it also wants is for the West to work harder at cutting these pieces of equipment off at their
12:33source,
12:34which would lead to Russia struggling to send replacement launchers after Ukraine carries out a strike.
12:39The ideal is the combination of three layers.
12:42Take out the source, destroy the launchers, and have enough interceptors at hand to shoot down the arrows when Russia
12:47manages to fire them.
12:48Work has to be done to bring all three of these elements together.
12:52However, the adaptation that Ukraine has made shows that it's taking a new approach to its air defense.
12:57It's no longer wait and shoot down, it's find and disrupt.
13:01Ukraine is going on the offense as it carves out a path to victory.
13:05Russia might be surprised by the attack on an Iskander launch site.
13:08It shouldn't be.
13:09That attack is simply the next step in a complete shift in Ukraine's approach,
13:13as offense has defined the best things that Ukraine has done in 2026.
13:18There are plenty of examples. Take Crimea.
13:20For much of the mid-portion of the year, Ukraine has been engaged in a campaign to isolate the Crimean
13:25Peninsula,
13:26cutting off fuel supplies to make this key piece of territory strategically useless,
13:31all while letting the occupiers in Crimea know that Putin can't protect them.
13:35This is an offensive strategy.
13:37Ukraine has been striking trucks, ships, and roads.
13:40These proactive attacks are now causing Russia a lot of problems in Crimea,
13:45and they wouldn't be happening if Ukraine were still in the defensive mindset that it has held throughout the war.
13:50The development of middle-strike drones, capable of striking targets up to 250 kilometers away from the front,
13:55has made this attacking strategy possible, and Ukraine is making the most of it.
14:00We see something similar in Ukraine's strikes against Wild Berries and, more recently, Ozone.
14:05Together, these two companies form the backbone of Russia's e-commerce logistics.
14:09They're used by millions of people, and they employ thousands.
14:13Since July 18th, Ukraine has recorded at least 20 strikes against Wild Berries facilities,
14:19doing billions of dollars of damage in the process.
14:22The company has lost over 1.18 million square meters of warehouse space, the Conversation reports.
14:28Again, this is offense.
14:29Direct attacks on Russian territory that do impact the front,
14:32in the sense that they hit companies that sell military gear.
14:35But more importantly, and similar to what we see in Crimea,
14:38these attacks bring more pain to the Russian people without targeting them directly.
14:42We've also seen Ukraine go on the offensive on its own turf.
14:46Since the Starlink shutdown we mentioned,
14:48Ukraine has been launching targeted attacks against weak points across the Russian front line,
14:53resulting in large amounts of territory being liberated.
14:56On August 12th, Zelenskyy revealed that Ukraine has retaken 745 square kilometers of territory
15:02in the Oleksandrovka direction alone since January, along with liberating 26 settlements.
15:08These counters allow Ukraine to fortify and set up later attacks.
15:12We don't mean to harp the point, but it's yet another offensive strategy.
15:15Rather than only waiting for Russia to attack so that Ukraine can inflict damage through its defense,
15:20Ukraine is actively going on the offense to inflict damage while still using its defense to atrip Russia's forces.
15:26What we're seeing with the targeting of Russia's ballistic missile launch sites is simply the next evolution in this offensive
15:32approach.
15:33That evolution has been made possible by Ukraine's growing arsenal of long-range drones and drone-missile hybrids.
15:39Ukraine now has weapons capable of striking up to 3,000 kilometers inside Russia.
15:45Those weapons won't need to travel so far to destroy Iskander launch sites due to the limited range of these
15:50types of missiles.
15:51However, it does open up possibilities for Ukraine to conduct attacks against facilities that manufacture missiles and components deeper in
15:58Russia,
15:58which feeds into the idea of cutting Russia's missile attacks off at the source.
16:03It all boils down to one important realization.
16:06Ukraine knows that it isn't going to win this war with defense alone.
16:10Putin has already demonstrated that he's willing to sacrifice the lives of as many Russians as it takes to achieve
16:15his goals.
16:17Almost 1.48 million casualties and counting are evidence of that.
16:21If Ukraine does nothing but defend, Putin will simply keep sending in the meat for as long as he is
16:26able.
16:27Ukraine may be able to kill hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions more,
16:31but it will lose soldiers and equipment while doing it.
16:33Perhaps enough for Russia to achieve the attritional victory that Putin seems to desire.
16:37So offense is needed.
16:39That simple concept has been the defining aspect of Ukraine's 2026 strategy.
16:45Now, Iskander missile launch sites are in Ukraine's crosshairs.
16:48Zelensky has just reported on one strike.
16:51Look for more in the coming weeks and months as Ukraine's attacks whittle away at Russia's aerial capabilities.
16:56By the way, we dug a lot deeper into Ukraine's counterattacks in the south.
17:00It's not just about the 745 square kilometers.
17:03Ukraine has shattered the Russian narrative with its offensives.
17:06And you can find out how by watching our video.
17:09But before you go, subscribe and tell us what you think in the comments below.
17:12And if you want even more from the channel, consider becoming a member for access to exclusive content.
17:17And thank you as always for watching.