With no defense against ballistic missiles, Ukraine starts hunting Russian launch sites

Ukraine’s air defenses downed every cruise missile in a night‑time Russian strike, yet officials say the country still lacks any shield against incoming ballistic missiles, highlighting a stark gap in protection. An Air Force spokesperson told Ukrinform that all cruise missiles were shot down, a claim echoed by Цензор.НЕТ. The Main Intelligence Directorate disclosed the move, and President Zelensky referenced the scaling effort in remarks to Ukrinform.

A policy brief from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies urged Kyiv to “aim for the Archer,” while theins.press examined whether Ukraine could develop ballistic weapons and interceptors at scale. The intelligence update coincided with the overnight cruise‑missile attack, underscoring a dual threat. The Kyiv Independent says Ukraine has begun hunting Russian ballistic missile launch sites, shifting from pure air‑defence to offensive targeting to compensate for the defensive gap.

Analysts note the move follows the identified production surge and reflects a broader debate on Ukraine’s capacity to field indigenous missiles and interceptor systems.