(KYIV) – Ukraine has used its domestically produced FP-7 tactical ballistic missile in combat for the first time, marking a significant advance in the country’s independent long range strike capabilities.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the milestone on social media, publishing footage of a nighttime launch. The FP-7, developed by Ukrainian defence company Fire Point, is a ground launched tactical ballistic missile with a reported range of approximately 250 kilometres and a payload capacity of roughly 200 kilograms. Its stated maximum speed is 1,500 metres per second, roughly Mach 4.3.
The missile is designed for use against high value targets such as command posts, ammunition depots, air defence systems, and airfields near the front lines and the Russian border. Because it is domestically produced, the FP-7 is not subject to the restrictions that constrain Western supplied weapons from being used against targets inside Russian territory.
The weapon’s architecture derives from the Soviet era 48N6 interceptor used in the S-300 and S-400 air defence families, but has been substantially rebuilt with composite materials and modern components. Fire Point chief designer Denys Shtilerman has described the FP-7 as an analogue to the US made Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, at a minimum of half the cost. The company has emphasised mass production over small batches, with its leadership stating that producing only a few missiles per month would have no meaningful effect on the front.
Fire Point also is adapting the same airframe into the FP-7.X interceptor, the kinetic component of Project Freyja, a European anti ballistic missile programme. The first intercept under that programme is targeted for mid 2027 at a projected cost below €1 million (about $1.2 million) per round.
The company’s rapid rise has drawn scrutiny. Ukraine’s National Anti Corruption Bureau has investigated whether Fire Point inflated component costs or drone delivery counts, questions the firm disputes.
Zelensky did not disclose the target, location, or outcome of the first combat use. His communications adviser told the Kyiv Independent that the details would not be released.
Meanwhile, Russia’s financial position is deteriorating. Yields on 10 year Russian government bonds have stood at around 16.8%, according to data from the Central Bank of Russia, compared with an average of about 4.3% across the Group of Seven economies. The Ministry of Finance recently declared a bond auction invalid, effectively cancelling it because the interest rate Russia would have had to offer was unacceptably high.
Corporate borrowing costs are even steeper. Yields on lower rated Russian corporate bonds have remained elevated despite central bank rate cuts, with the ACRA ratings agency noting that first tier corporate bond yields stood at 15.44% in the first half of 2026. The yield index for third tier issuers was 27.41%.
Sweden has stated it would strike targets deep inside Russia if attacked. Colonel Carl Bergqvist, head of Sweden’s air warfare centre, said the strategy is not about preemptive strikes but deterrence, and that an aggressor must understand a war would not be confined to Swedish territory.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, when asked by the BBC about hybrid warfare, responded by framing Russian sabotage activities as responses to Western weapons supplies, saying: “You mean when we destroy the drones and missiles that Britain and continental Europe supply to Ukraine, which they shoot at us? Is this what you mean by hybrid warfare?”
Russian state media personality Margarita Simonyan has warned that weapons factories in European countries producing arms for Ukraine are “potentially military targets” and should not be considered safe outside Ukrainian territory.
On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces have conducted counteroffensives in the Lyman direction and near the Dnipro region. President Zelensky visited the Lyman sector and met with brigade and corps commanders, including the commander of the 3rd Army Corps. He also met with the 21st Separate Unmanned Systems Regiment, known as Kraken, and the 66th Separate Mechanised Brigade. Zelensky stated that Operation Vivaldi had reclaimed 125 square kilometres.
Russian mobilisation has been restructured since the unpopular partial mobilisation of 2022, with recruitment now conducted continuously through regional and corporate channels without a publicly announced nationwide campaign. Russian men are being compelled into service through various administrative mechanisms.
Russia’s September fuel losses included 640 fuel tankers and long haul vehicles, according to tracking by Clément Molin. Cumulatively, approximately 2,500 trucks have been struck on highways and in occupied territories.
Ukrainian forces have intercepted a Russian Geran 5 jet powered drone using the P1 Sun Jet Killer, produced by Skyfall. This marks the fifth distinct type of jet interceptor drone to record a successful shootdown, alongside systems designated as Sting, an unnamed SBU drone, Spy, and an unnamed Pertula funded interceptor.
Ukrainian military drones delivered four tonnes of food to the occupied town of Oleshky, where approximately 2,000 civilians are trapped and facing starvation. Russian troops have confiscated the drone delivered food, and checkpoints and mined roads have prevented the delivery of aid.
Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed strikes on the Slavyansky oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, Krasnodar Krai, and the Taneco oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, Republic of Tatarstan. A facility in Millerovo, Rostov Oblast, used for storing and launching attack UAVs was also struck. Damage to the ELZU-AVT-6 primary refining unit and a section of main pipeline at the Saratov Oil Refinery was confirmed from strikes on 11th September.
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