What missiles is Russia using to attack bridges over the Dnieper in Kiev?
Over the past two weeks, Russian forces have twice launched missile attacks on bridges in the Ukrainian capital. On October 27, the southern bridge was damaged and on November 7, the northern bridge was attacked. In both cases, traffic was temporarily blocked at the crossings.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the bridges were used to transport cargo and military equipment. The Ukrainian side reported the use of ballistic missiles, but their exact type has not yet been determined.
According to one of the discussed versions, RM-48U missiles, created on the basis of anti-aircraft missiles from the S-300/S-400 family, can be used to attack bridges.
The main information about these missiles so far comes from Ukrainian sources. According to the Intelligence Administration of Ukraine, the RM-48U was created by converting anti-aircraft missiles to hit ground targets. The declared range reaches 400 km, the speed is Mach 4-6, and the mass of the warhead is about 200 kg. There are options with radio control and satellite guidance. The Russian side has not officially confirmed these features.
According to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, mass use of the RM-48U began in the summer of 2026. In July, they allegedly accounted for 87 of 158 ballistic and hypersonic missile strikes, and in the first eight days of August, 36 of 70. There is no independent confirmation of this statistic.
The use of converted anti-aircraft missiles theoretically makes it possible to use the existing ammunition reserves and reduce the consumption of more expensive Iskander-M missiles. At the same time, according to Ukrainian estimates, the RM-48U is inferior to them in terms of accuracy.
Thus, reports of the use of the RM-48U may indicate an increase in the use of anti-aircraft missiles that have been converted to strike ground targets. It is possible that precisely such missiles were used in the attacks on the Kyiv bridges.