Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukraine says it has a new long-range weapon that can reach deep into Russia without the permission of its allies. It is a domestically developed missile-drone combination that its defense minister said on Monday will provide “answers” to a wave of Russian bombings.
The Palianytsia was born out of urgent need, Ukrainian officials said, as Russia has dominated the skies since the war broke out in February 2022 and Ukraine’s Western allies have set conditions for Russia to deploy their long-range missiles. On Monday, a wave of Russian missiles and drones targeted Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure, the largest such attack in weeks.
“There should be no restrictions on weapons for defenders of life as long as Russia uses all types of its own weapons,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Telegram message after the attacks.
Zelensky on Saturday confirmed the existence of the Palianytsia, named after a Ukrainian type of bread and a word so notoriously difficult to pronounce correctly that it was used early in the war to unmask suspected spies. The Ukrainian president called it a “new class of weapon.”
The new weapon was used for the first time on Saturday, the 33rd anniversary of Ukraine’s independence from the former Soviet Union. It was targeted at a Russian military base in the occupied territory, officials said, without giving details.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov promised on Monday that the weapon would soon be used again in response to the nighttime attack on Ukraine.
“Ukraine is preparing its response. Weapons of its own production,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “This proves once again that to win we need long-range capabilities and the lifting of restrictions on attacks on enemy military facilities.”
A Ukrainian military video suggested the missile’s range is up to 700 kilometers – comparable to that of the US-supplied ATACMS. It showed a map with various airfields, including the Russian Savasleyka airbase, which is within that range. It also said that Palianytsia could reach at least 20 Russian airfields.
The US and other Western allies are supplying Ukraine with long-range weapons but prohibiting it from launching these weapons deep into Russia’s hinterland for fear of escalating the war. Ukraine can attack the border regions but wants to push deeper to attack Russia’s military infrastructure.
The Institute for the Study of War said Russia is using “shelters in low-lying areas.” It estimates that at least 250 militarily significant targets in Russia are within range of the ATACMS missiles, but current restrictions mean Ukraine can only attack 20 of them.
Ukrainian Technology Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told the Associated Press in his first interview about the new weapon that the next step would be to expand production.
“I think this will change everything because then we will be able to strike where Russia does not expect it today,” he said.
For security reasons, Fedorov declined to provide details on the range or current stockpile, but said he has been involved in domestic missile development projects since late 2022.
Ukraine’s battlefields have become a deadly test laboratory for new weapons and new adaptations of old ones. Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have fitted off-the-shelf equipment with military-grade explosives and infrared cameras; Russia has retrofitted Soviet-era unguided bombs with GPS devices; and Ukraine’s underwater drones have crippled Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
But the new weapon is a long-term goal of Ukraine.
One of the specialists involved in the long-range missile project said it was a “complete new development from scratch” that began about 18 months ago.
“This is not an extension of an old Soviet project,” said the expert, who wished to remain anonymous to maintain the secrecy of the project. The rocket has a solid-fuel engine that accelerates it, followed by a jet engine, the expert said.
Ukraine says its inability to defend itself against Russian long-range weapons is having deadly consequences. Ukrainian commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said Russia fired 9,627 long-range missiles, but Ukrainian defenses shot down only a quarter of them and more than half of the Russian targets were civilians.
The expert and Fedorov said each missile costs less than a million dollars, and the military is turning to the private sector to further reduce production costs. “The private market is generating solutions incredibly quickly,” the minister said.
Since this year, private companies have been the main suppliers of drones to the Ukrainian army, including those currently attacking Russia and underwater drones that have repeatedly attacked the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Fedorov said.
“All types of missiles will be available in Ukraine,” he said. “Having our own weapons like these will make us feel more independent and confident.”
Fedorov added that in his opinion Russia’s enormous size could also explain its vulnerability.
“It is impossible to produce enough air defense systems to protect such a large area,” he said. “For us, this opens up the possibility of operating deep behind enemy lines.”
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Associated Press writer Illia Novikov contributed to this report.
