Russia deploys inaccurate missiles that can miss targets by hundreds of meters in strikes on Ukrainian cities
Russia is increasingly using RM48U missiles, originally built as air-defense training targets, to strike Ukraine, with reports indicating plans to expand their use.
Russia has been increasingly relying on a type of missile not originally designed for combat strikes to attack Ukrainian cities. The RM48U missiles were initially developed as training targets for air-defense systems, meant to simulate incoming threats during exercises rather than serve as precision weapons against real targets.
A wide margin of error
The central issue with these missiles is their poor accuracy — they can deviate from their intended impact point by hundreds of meters. This large margin of error makes them particularly dangerous when directed at populated areas. When fired at cities, such missiles risk striking civilian neighborhoods located far from any actual military or infrastructure target, increasing the danger to residents who have no connection to the intended strike zone.
Plans to expand use
According to available information, Russia intends to scale up the use of these missiles, suggesting that this imprecise weapon could become more common in future attacks. This raises concerns about continued risk to civilians in Ukrainian cities, since the inherent inaccuracy of the missiles cannot guarantee that strikes will hit only military or strategic objects.
The reported use of these repurposed training missiles, and plans to increase their deployment, point to a continuation of Russia's broader campaign of aerial strikes on Ukrainian populated areas, employing a range of weapons — including some never originally intended for this purpose.
