AFU Raises Concerns About New Russian Long-Range, High-Speed Missile

A spokesperson from the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on Tuesday said the newest threat from Russia is the “Banderol” missile, with a long range and rather high speed: anywhere between 480 to 680 kilometers per hour.

 “This is a high-explosive munition,” Vladyslav Voloshyn, a spokesman for the Southern Defense Forces said Tuesday on Ukrainian television.

“What is its main threat? In the range,” he said. “Although the Russians claim that it flies 700 kilometers, we recorded about 310-320 from the point where it was used. In addition, it has a fairly high speed: from 480 to 680 kilometers per hour,” he said.

The Banderol (Russian: бандероль) means “parcel” or “wrapped package” in English.

Voloshyn said the Ukrainian military has recorded about two dozen cases of the use of this air-launched barrage munition.

“It is a cross between an unmanned aerial vehicle and a cruise missile. These munitions are launched from unmanned aerial vehicles [or drones]: large ones, such as our Bayraktar. The weight of the explosive in this missile is about 150 kilograms,” the spokesman explained.

To date, the most deadly hypersonic missile that Russia has used against Ukraine is the Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile. Reportedly able to briefly reach Mach 10, its ability to maneuver in flight helps it evade Ukraine’s air defenses some of the time.

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Mach 10 is roughly 7,600 mph, or about 12,000 kmph. Even by Moscow’s estimates, the Banderol’s speed is only about half of that.

The range of the Kinzhal missile, however, is estimated at about 480 km, or about 300 miles, quite a bit short of the 700 km estimate of the Banderol.

Still, state media Ukrinform reported, AFU does not believe that this is something new and very dangerous.

“In fact, the Russians have been developing it for several years, and now they are trying to show that they have something new,” Voloshyn said.

Regarding the difference in the use of Bandera and other cruise missiles or drones, Voloshyn pointed out that the weight of the Shahed warhead is 50 kilograms, and now the Russians are bringing this figure up to 70 kilograms. “The same “Bandera” has 150, as I said. The speed of the “Shahed” is much lower... And they are trying to use the “Banderol” as a cruise missile,” the spokesman for the Southern Defense Forces summarized.