Russia hits Kiev hard again: Why Ukraine struggles to defend against Russian missiles

Russia once again struck Ukraine forcefully overnight, with an offensive leaving at least 16 dead and over 40 injured in Kiev and its environs. The attack underscored a critical Ukrainian vulnerability: the persistent difficulty in intercepting Russian ballistic missiles. Ukraine's Air Force reported that Russia launched dozens of ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles, alongside 168 drones. While nearly 90% of the drones and most cruise missiles were successfully downed, Ukraine did not specify the number of ballistic missiles intercepted. The primary challenge with ballistic missiles is the extremely limited reaction time. Defense systems have mere minutes, sometimes seconds, to detect the threat, calculate its trajectory, and neutralize it. Unlike cruise missiles, which fly relatively low and straight, ballistic missiles are launched like rockets and descend on targets at hypersonic speeds. "The trajectory is very, very steep and it goes at a ridiculous speed," explained Thomas Withington, an electronic warfare specialist at the Royal United Services Institute. The faster a projectile travels, the harder it is to intercept. Russia's arsenal includes the Iskander-M ballistic missile, launched from the ground, and the Kinzhal, air-launched. They have also used S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft missiles against ground targets. The Zircon, technically an anti-ship cruise missile, also poses a similar interception problem due to its high speed. The Patriot system, the most capable supplied to Ukraine, is designed for high-speed missile defense. Its PAC-3 interceptor aims to collide directly with the incoming warhead. However, the system requires rapid tracking and trajectory prediction, often leaving only seconds for engagement. According to Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat, Patriots are currently the only operational system in Ukraine capable of intercepting missiles like the Iskander-M, S-400, and Zircon. Other ballistic missile defense systems exist, such as THAAD and Aegis, but they have not been supplied to Kiev. Even Patriot protection is not absolute. When a battery is unavailable, out of position, or low on missiles, other Ukrainian defenses cannot compensate. Ukraine possesses very few Patriot batteries to cover its entire territory, a vulnerability Russia exploits through combined attacks.

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The trajectory is very, very steep and it goes at a ridiculous speed.