Ukraine’s Missiles Are Blowing Up Russian Supply Hubs—Some Inside Russia

Russian military warehouses, vehicle staging areas and transport ships keep blowing up inside Russia-held territory in Ukraine—as well as along the border in Russia itself.

Yes, Ukrainian attack helicopters and explosives-laden “suicide” drones are responsible for some of these attacks. But it’s evident that Ukrainian brigades firing old Tochka ballistic missiles are responsible for many—if not most—of the Ukrainian deep strikes targeting Russian logistical infrastructure.

We know because the two-ton, 21-foot missile tends to leave parts of itself on the ground, more or less intact, after its 1,000-pound warhead explodes.

One of the most recent Ukrainian missile raids also was the most dramatic. Someone was recording on their phone as, in broad daylight on or before Thursday, three wheeled launchers apparently belonging to the 19th Separate Missile Brigade fired their Tochkas one after another in rapid succession.

A soldier carrying a Stinger shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile, apparently watching for Russian drones, also is visible in the video. The Stinger protection is a healthy reminder that the Tochkas can fly only so far—between 44 and 75 miles, depending on the model—and thus are vulnerable to detection and counterbattery fire by enemy forces that might be just a few miles away.

But 75 miles is far enough for strikes against vital nodes in the logistical network supporting Russian forces, including nodes just across the border.

Since Russia widened its war in Ukraine starting in late February, Ukrainian Tochkas have blasted—at the minimum—two airfields in southern Russia, a Russian fuel convoy in Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, a Russian ammo depot in Khrustalnyi in eastern Ukraine and another Russian facility in Svatovo, also in eastern Ukraine.

A Ukrainian Tochka apparently also set ablaze the Russian navy landing vessel Saratov in the occupied port of Berdyansk in southern Ukraine.

Considering that Russian forces claim to have shot down several Tochkas mid-flight, the tally of successful attacks represents just a portion of the Ukrainian Tochka launches in the first 120 days of the wider war.

We don’t know for sure how many Tochkas Ukraine had going into the war. Possibly 300 or more along with at least 40 launchers. The missiles apparently were a mix of 1970s-vintage A-models and late-1980s B-models. Kyiv’s logisticians obviously took care to preserve the aging missiles across their decades of front-line service.

All of Ukraine’s Tochkas are ex-Soviet examples. Ukrainian industry can’t manufacture replacement missiles, so it’s worth asking what happens after the 19th Separate Missile Brigade or some other unit fires the last of those 300 or so rounds.

It’s possible Ukraine could acquire spare missiles from an ally. The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland once operated Tochkas and might still have some in storage. Bulgaria still operates the Tochka and could pass along its missiles.

Missile transfers could sustain Ukraine’s deep strikes as the war grinds on.