KYIV, Ukraine — Even as Ukrainian officials celebrate the arrival of more advanced Western air defense systems and claim increasing success in shooting down Russian rockets and drones, they warn that Moscow is seeking new long-range weapons against which Kiev’s forces they have little defense — namely, ballistic missiles from Iran. A Ukrainian Air Force spokesman said the Kremlin had plans to buy Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar ballistic missiles from Iran, which the Ukrainians say will almost certainly be used to continue targeting civilian energy infrastructure that has already been hit. from a barrage of attacks in recent weeks. “We have information that they have reached some agreement on the surrender,” the spokesman, Yuri Ikhnat, told a press conference on Monday. Iran has denied plans to sell ballistic missiles to Russia. However, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s defense intelligence directorate, said the delivery of Iranian missiles could take place by the end of November. “It’s a serious threat because Iranian missiles, unlike Russian ones, are quite high-precision, very high-velocity, and those characteristics have been proven in combat,” he said in a recent interview with War Zone, an online publication focused on in military matters. Ukrainian officials declined to disclose details about the number of missiles Russia may be seeking to acquire. However, Mr Ihnat said Ukraine was in discussions with its Western allies on how to deal with the threat. “It is theoretically possible to take them down, but in reality it is very difficult to do so with the capabilities we have at our disposal today,” he noted. One possibility would involve destroying ballistic missiles upon launch, he said. But for that, Ukraine would likely need longer-range weapons of the type that the United States and other allies have so far been reluctant to provide, fearing that Ukraine could use them to strike military targets inside Russia and possibly escalate the conflict. The missiles Moscow is seeking to acquire from Iran are similar to the Iskander missiles Russia has used since the start of its invasion in February. Western military analysts and Ukrainian officials say Russia is turning to Iran because its Iskander stockpile has been significantly depleted. Russia has other weapons at its disposal, including Kalibr cruise missiles and Iranian attack drones. Ukraine has gotten better at taking them down, using man-portable air defense systems, attack jets and a mix of Soviet-era air defenses and newly arrived Western systems. Germany’s state-of-the-art IRIS-T air defense systems – so new they had never been used on the battlefield – were highly effective in shooting down missiles fired by Russia during a wave of raids in late October, according to the Ukrainian military. And Ukrainian officials on Monday announced the arrival of the first two of eight advanced surface-to-air missile systems, or NASAMS, promised by the Pentagon. Each is equipped with radar-guided missiles with a range of up to 30 miles. However, these advanced systems are not designed to defend against ballistic missiles — and are expensive to use compared to relatively inexpensive drones. Ukrainian officials say they believe Moscow will continue to try to overwhelm its defenses with sheer volume, as it did on Oct. 31, when Russia fired about 55 missiles at vital infrastructure. Only 10 were reported to have penetrated the defenses, but they caused significant damage to energy structures, forcing Ukraine to shut down power to prevent the collapse of the power grid. The Royal United Services Institute, a London-based research organization, wrote in a report this week that while strikes against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure were “unlikely to change Russia’s fortunes on the battlefield,” they “caused major problems and were creating new demands on Ukrainian air. – defense equipment. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country is “gradually moving towards our goal” of fully defending its skies. “As of today, we can say that the recent escalation of Russian terror with missiles and drones has resulted in the world responding – responding with new aid to Ukraine,” he said in his Monday night speech. Farnaz Fassihi contributed reporting.
