Ukrainian military intelligence has warned that Russia is preparing to conduct final tests by the end of the year on a new ballistic missile with a range of up to 800km (roughly 500 miles), a development that could further strain Ukraine's air defences. Speaking at a Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council meeting, a Ukrainian defence intelligence official said the tests may include live-fire strikes on targets in western Ukraine, while a US missile defence analyst noted the weapon could feature advanced manoeuvrability that would demand more sophisticated interceptors to counter.

Tom Karako of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said the missile's range falls within limits once banned under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, from which the United States withdrew in 2019 over alleged Russian breaches. He suggested the missile could either be cheaper to produce at scale or capable of unpredictable "terminal end game" manoeuvres designed to confuse defenders, reflecting a broader global shift towards precision-guided, manoeuvrable munitions rather than purely ballistic weapons. He added that testing such systems in an active war zone, while breaking pre-war norms, has become common practice given the conflict's demands.