9K720 Iskander-M / K
The workhorse short-range ballistic missile of the strike campaign — and the hardest routine target Ukraine's air defences face.
Record
Battlefield role
Short-range ballistic and cruise strikes against cities, infrastructure, airfields and high-value systems — including the recon-strike hunt for HIMARS launchers and Patriot batteries.
Strengths
Quasi-ballistic manoeuvring and decoys stress even Patriot, the only system Ukraine fields that reliably engages it; production publicly assessed as substantially scaled since 2022; complemented in volume by North Korean-supplied analogues, recorded separately.
Limitations
Expensive per shot relative to the drone-led strike mix; launchers and depots are documented targets of Ukrainian deep strikes; documented intercepts over defended cities, though claimed rates on both sides are contested.
Visual identification
Large 8×8 transporter-erector-launcher carrying two missiles under a clamshell roof — the erected single missile before launch is the signature image; the K variant fires cruise missiles from the same vehicle family.
Documented conflict use
In documented use from the war's opening salvos in February 2022 and throughout every phase of the strategic strike campaign; documented in strikes on Kyiv and other cities, and against operational targets such as airfields and air-defence sites.
Branch & service operators
- Ground ForcesDocumented
Related key events
Strategic campaign against Ukraine's grid begins
Massed missile and Shahed-drone salvos against power infrastructure open a recurring seasonal campaign to break civilian endurance through winter darkness and cold.