TrueValueMetrics ... Impact Accounting for the 21st Century

Date: 2025-08-21 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00028612

THE RUSSIAN - UKRAINE WAR RUSSIAN MISSILE LAUNCHERS TheMilitaryShow: Another Day, Another Victory for Ukraine - Iskander Missile Base WIPED OUT A Russian Iskander missile launcher PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5rmi-SZhC4 Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess
Another Day, Another Victory for Ukraine - Iskander Missile Base WIPED OUT The Military Show 1.68M subscribers Jun 6, 2025 #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis On June 5, Ukraine struck a major blow against Russia by destroying one Iskander missile launcher and damaging two more in Bryansk. The targeted base belonged to Russia’s 26th Missile Brigade—linked to past deadly strikes on Ukrainian civilians. This precision strike limits Russia’s firepower as its summer offensive escalates. Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: / @themilitaryshow #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/Xb9bz9U2 Transcript 0:00 June 5th. It’s another day and another victory for Ukraine. In a devastating blitz, Ukraine has just destroyed a Iskander launcher and damaged two others to limit Russia’s attacking capabilities further. The Kyiv Independent was among the first outlets to break the story on June 5. It says that Ukrainian forces launched their own targeted missile strike against what it calls a “concentration of Russian missile troops” near the city of Klintsy (KLEENT-see). Nestled in the Bryansk (bree-AHNsk) oblast, which itself has been a constant target for Ukraine over the last few months, that concentration of Russian troops is now gone. Footage shared to Telegram by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Military seems to show the outcome of the strike. We can’t see too much. What appears to be a Ukrainian reconnaissance drone is filming from a high altitude. Initially, all we can see is a forested area in the Russian countryside. But a slightly closer examination reveals smoke emanating from that forested area. Several seconds pass. Then, the sparks fly. To the center-right of the footage, a massive explosion is recorded that is the likely result of a Ukrainian missile strike that decimated the Iskander missile base. The 1:03 General Staff claims that the latest Ukrainian missile strike decimated an Iskander missile launcher and caused serious damage to two others. That’s massive. It means a trio of the launchers Putin uses to bombard Ukrainian cities near the border with Russia are out of commission. The General Staff also released a simple statement, saying, “Thanks to effective reconnaissance and the coordinated efforts of the Armed Forces and the Security Service of Ukraine, the targets were successfully hit.” Ukraine also added that no civilian casualties were reported during the strike and that further assessments were ongoing to assess the true extent of the damage caused. More details come from Defense Express’s report on the incident. It says that several units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine worked alongside Ukraine’s Security Service and several other Ukrainian defense forces to pull off the strike in Bryansk. A specific target is also mentioned – Russia’s 26th Missile Brigade. Specifically, Ukraine’s missiles touched down on a base operated by a unit of that missile brigade, which Defense Express says was preparing 2:01 a massive missile attack that was probably aimed at Kyiv. The 26th Missile Brigade is a new threat to Ukraine. It’s part of Russia’s 6th Combined Arms Army, which itself falls under the recently re-established Leningrad Military District. Defense Express says it was also the first Russian brigade to transition fully to the use of Iskander missiles, having previously used the outdated – though still dangerous – Tochka-M. It is a dangerous brigade. The 26th Missile Brigade has used its Iskander missiles to strike several Ukrainian cities. Defense Express also points out that it was responsible for an August 2023 attack on Chernihiv (cher-NEE-heev), which targeted the city’s Drama Theater. That devastating attack killed seven people and injured a further 144, the BBC reported at the time. Among the injured were 15 children, with victims also including several people who were celebrating an Orthodox Christian holiday at the local church. Chernihiv is about 31 miles south of Ukraine’s border with Belarus and was one of the first Ukrainian cities that Putin’s forces besieged when Russia’s leader launched his invasion back in February 2022. Apparently, 3:02 Russia was aiming to take out the participants of a military event at the city’s Drama Theater. But, as is so often the case, its missiles ended up killing Ukrainian civilians. It may have taken nearly two years, but Ukraine has just responded by taking out the unit responsible for this and several other devastating attacks. Make no mistake – this is another major victory for Ukraine. It’s also a victory that follows a familiar pattern. Russia’s forces attack civilian population centers with their missiles. Ukraine responds by taking out the military installations responsible for firing those missiles. Putin is killing civilians while Ukraine keeps its focus on military targets. And that gives us our first reason why this latest Ukrainian strike matters. Here are some of the others. First, Ukraine has just taken out a trio of Iskander missile launchers, one of which appears to have been damaged beyond the point of repair. That’s vital because the Iskander is one of the most dangerous missiles in Russia’s arsenal. Missile Threat offers the basics, noting that the missile – which carries the NATO codename “Stone” – is a road-mobile short-range ballistic 4:01 missile that is fired from a launcher that’s also capable of shooting Russia’s 9M728 and 9M729 cruise missiles. So, we have a triple whammy of a strike here. Ukraine has taken out three launchers capable of firing three types of missiles Russia has been using to target its border cities. Coming back to the Iskander, it’s around 24 feet long and weighs up to 8,377 pounds, depending on the variant of the missile used. Counted within that weight is an explosive payload that can weigh up to 1,543 pounds – a devastating explosive force that’s more than powerful enough to tear through buildings. Speaking of explosive force, Russia can pack the missile with various types of warheads, including high-explosive, earth-penetrator, and submunition warheads. Iskander is also capable of carrying a thermobaric warhead, otherwise known as a vacuum bomb, that can kill people in seconds. Despite being classed as a short-range ballistic missile, the Iskander is also more than capable of striking deep into the heart of Ukraine. It has a range of between 248 and 310 miles, making it 5:00 a clear threat to Ukraine’s border cities. Based on the 2023 Chernihiv, we can also safely assume that Russia has stationed some of these missiles in Belarus, allowing it to hit targets that it otherwise wouldn’t be able to reach from the now-destroyed Bryansk base. Militarnyi offers more details, labeling the Iskander as a “weapon of missile terror.” It says that work first began on the development of this terrifying missile back in December 1988. However, that doesn’t make it a Soviet-era relic. It took Russia almost two decades to get the Iskander up to spec, particularly when it came to the missile’s ability to conduct precision strikes, and it wasn’t introduced into service until 2006. Militarnyi also says that Iskander missiles come in two varieties. The first is what the resource calls the “quasi-ballistic” variant, which includes the 9М720, 9М723, and 9М723М versions of the missile. These are the variants that the Missile Threat statistics cover. Militarnyi says that one of the reasons this ballistic version of the missile is so dangerous is that it can reach an altitude of up to 31 miles, making it almost impossible for 6:02 most of Ukraine’s air defense units to pick it off. The cruise versions of the missiles, including the 9M728, don’t follow ballistic trajectories. Instead, they use terrain-following flight paths and advanced guidance systems to stay low and precise—making them harder to detect and giving them the flexibility to adjust timing based on their target. Russia loves using the Iskander. It saw its first use during the short-lived war between Russia and Georgia, with Russia using it to attack the cities of Gori and Poti, as well as the Baku-Supsa pipeline. Iskander is also believed to have been used in Syria back in 2017 and was deployed by Armenia during the Karabakh (KAHR-uh-bahk) war in 2020. The only problem Russia has with the missile, Militarnyi points out, is its limited supply. Russia is only able to launch around six of the 9M723 variant per month, the resource says, making Iskander a rarely-used, though still lethal, missile. One thing is for certain – the Iskander is a killer. By taking out three Iskander missile launchers, Ukraine has just gone a long way to reducing Russia’s missile strike capabilities. That brings us to 7:02 the next reason why this strike was so important – it limits the devastating impact Russia’s missile strikes have on Ukraine’s civilians. Putin loves to use missiles against Ukraine’s cities, infrastructure, and military positions. Militarnyi says that Iskander alone was used in a staggering 240 missile strikes during the first year of the Ukraine war. After that, it says, the use of Iskander fell significantly, likely due to Russia running low on its reserves. However, having fewer Iskanders didn’t mean Russia stopped launching missiles altogether. It just started mixing Iskander with other types of missiles. And the attacks have been devastating. According to The Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, Russia launched an enormous 11,466 missiles between September 28, 2022, and September 1, 2024. That amounts to daily launches of around 23.2 missiles on average, though CSIS says there were several days during this period when Russia far exceeded that average. Its record was a single day when Russia launched 82 missiles, 8:02 with CSIS noting that these high-intensity days tend to correspond with Russia launching certain military operations or major developments on the battlefield. More on that in a moment. On February 24, CSIS released updated missile statistics, noting that the average number of missiles Russia was firing at Ukraine had started to tick up. By the end of February, the average stood at 24.3 missiles and drones, with Russia using 25 unique models of these weapons. Iskander is just one of them, though it’s perhaps the missile that packs the most devastating firepower of the lot. Often, Russia targets Ukraine’s cities with its missiles, as we saw in Chernihiv. The scale of civilian deaths that has resulted is staggering. Statista says that Ukraine’s civilian casualties between February 24, 2022, and April 30, 2025, amount to 45,001, Of those, 13,134 civilians have died, with the other 31,867 being injured. Children aren’t immune from Putin’s civilian-focused missile strikes either – 707 children have died to missiles like the Iskander, with another 2,068 9:04 being injured. With these numbers, it’s pretty obvious why Ukraine wanted to take out the Bryansk Iskander missile base. One less base means fewer missiles hurtling toward Ukraine’s citizens. The destruction of a trio of Iskander launchers won’t spell the end of Putin’s rampaging missile assaults. We don’t even know if Ukraine managed to take out some of the missiles themselves, with the only confirmation being that it destroyed one launcher and damaged two others. But every little bit helps. And given that Russia was reportedly preparing a launch as Ukraine struck, the Bryansk attack at least means that some of Ukraine’s civilians are safer than they would have been, at least for a few weeks. And that safety is important. Earlier, we mentioned the CSIS claim that Russia’s most intense missile strikes tend to come when it’s launching a new military operation. One of those operations is happening right now. Ukraine’s destruction of the Bryansk Iskander facility comes as Russia is launching a massive summer offensive across Ukraine. That’s according to The New York Times, which reported on May 29 that Russia has launched a dual campaign of 10:00 intensified frontline attacks and missile bombardments of Ukraine’s cities over the last few weeks. “The Kremlin’s summer offensive appears to be underway,” The New York Times says, as it reports that military analysts believe that Russia began its more concerted efforts to achieve a breakthrough against Ukraine in late May. That offensive is starting even as Ukraine and Russia engage in the first direct peace talks since the early months of Putin’s invasion. The second round of those talks concluded on June 2, resulting in the two countries committing to returning the bodies of around 12,000 soldiers, according to the BBC. However, no progress was made toward a ceasefire. And it doesn’t look like any progress will be made any time soon. Following the second round of peace talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy began calling for a face-to-face meeting with Putin. That meeting could come in a trilateral format, says Pravda, potentially involving U.S. President Donald Trump, who himself has been trying to push for peace between the two warring nations. Putin says no. “The Kyiv elite has resorted to organizing terrorist attacks,” Putin claims. Yet, they are requesting a meeting at the highest level. How can such meetings occur under these conditions? What is there to discuss? Who negotiates with those who 11:04 rely on terrorism? Why encourage them by offering a pause in the fighting?” Putin doesn’t seem to realize that his hypocrisy is showing. It’s not Ukraine that has killed over 10,000 Russian civilians, as Putin’s missile bombardments have done in Ukraine. This statement from Putin is just further confirmation of something that Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people have always known: Putin doesn’t want peace. And that brings us back to the summer offensive. As we speak, Russian forces have started a renewed push in the Donbas (Don-Bass) region, which has been a key target for Putin since the beginning of his invasion. The New York Times says that Russia used the typical winter lull in fighting to build up equipment reserves, tweak its drone tactics, and rebuild battlefield communications, all in preparation for this new offensive. Of course, Russia hasn’t confirmed that this offensive is happening. It never does, with Putin only going as far as to suggest that he’s looking to create a buffer zone inside Ukraine. But a key part of this campaign, The New York Times says, is the use of “combined missile and drone strikes to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses, exhaust its citizens, and deplete its industrial base.” That brings us back to Ukraine’s Bryansk 12:05 strike and the destruction of three of Russia’s Iskander launchers. Ukraine is conducting attacks like these because it knows the summer offensive is coming. It also knows that Putin has no intention of taking peace talks seriously. As Zelenskyy himself said hours after another Russian strike on June 2, “Diplomacy cannot succeed amid constant attacks.” By taking out these Iskander launchers, Ukraine has shown us that one of its strategies for dealing with Russia’s summer offensive is to whittle away at the equipment Putin relies on for the missile strikes that will play a huge role in that offensive. We also can’t ignore the possibility that what we just saw in Bryansk is part of a wider Ukrainian effort to conduct an offensive against the oblast. After all, Bryansk has been a Ukrainian target for quite some time. We knew that back in August 2024, amidst the Kursk (Koor-Sk) counter-invasion. In August 2024, the Bryansk regional governor Alexander Bogomaz (boh-goh-MAHZ) claimed that his region’s stationed forces had managed to repel a Ukrainian group consisting of about 200 soldiers. Bogomaz went so far as to claim that Bryansk has 13:01 “inflicted a military defeat” on Ukraine, though the reports about the supposed Bryansk incursion weren’t independently verified. Fast-forward to 2025, and Bryansk is still a target for Ukraine. That’s according to The New Voice of Ukraine, which wrote in April that a military analyst named Vasyl Pekhno (vah-SEEL PEKH-noh) believes that Ukraine may be trying to create a buffer zone within Russian territory. Pekhno noted at the time that “Roughly 90 square kilometers remain under the control of our Defense Forces,” in Kursk, despite Russia’s claims to have pushed Ukraine out of the oblast. He also pointed out that Zelenskyy had officially confirmed a Ukrainian operation in the other Russian border oblast of Belgorod (BEL-guh-rod) before he posed an interesting question: “Why not consider the possibility that this could be a move into Bryansk Oblast? It would be a logical next step in creating additional pressure points on the Russian Federation.” Perhaps Pekhno is on to something. After all, it was only on June 1 that Russia was reporting on the collapse of several bridges in its border oblasts, including one in Bryansk. DW reports that Bogomaz claims that those bridge collapses resulted in civilian casualties. “There are seven dead as a result of the collapse of a bridge onto railway tracks,” Bogomaz claimed. “More than 60 14:04 are injured, including three children, with one in critical condition.” What little we know about this incident is that the bridge collapse led to a train carrying 388 passengers coming off its tracks. Ukraine is yet to comment or claim responsibility, though this may be the “terrorist attack” to which Putin is referring when he refused a direct meeting with Zelenskyy. Though we don’t yet know if Ukraine was responsible for this particular incident, there’s a clear pattern of targeting Bryansk emerging. The strike against the Iskander base is just the latest incident, suggesting that Ukraine might be trying to weaken the oblast in preparation for an incursion later in the year. Finally, there’s one other possible reason why Ukraine chose now to take out an Iskander missile base: Revenge. Ukraine’s strike came just four days after Russia used an Iskander missile to destroy several Ukrainian drone command centers and some of its HIMARS launchers, according to Military Watch Magazine. The Russian Defense Ministry released a report on the attack, stating, “Two HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems and their accompanying munitions were destroyed by a strike from an Iskander operational-tactical missile system in the 15:04 Sumy (Soo-Me) region.” That region is a likely target for Putin during his summer offensive. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry also confirmed the destruction of the drone centers, also in Sumy. “As a result of the missile strike, two vehicles equipped with mobile drone launch and control stations, along with their crews, were hit.” Fires were also reported, showcasing just how much damage an Iskander missile can do when it hits its target. It's unclear from where the Iskander was launched. But perhaps that doesn’t matter. Ukraine felt the power of an Iskander missile, and it may have chosen to hit the Bryansk base as revenge. Now, Russia has three fewer launchers, meaning an attack similar to the one that just happened in Sumy is less likely to happen again. Russia has already responded to Ukraine’s Bryansk strike. On June 6, The Kyiv Independent reported that Russia launched a mass missile and drone assault against several of Ukraine’s cities, including the capital of Kyiv, and Ukraine’s far-western regions. In Kyiv, several fires broke out in residential buildings as explosions and falling debris wreaked havoc in the city. As of the latest reports, 20 Ukrainian civilians were injured, 16:02 with 16 of them needing to go to hospital. So, Russia is carrying on with its same old tactics. But Ukraine’s big Bryansk victory means that Putin will have to push forward without three of the Iskander launchers he relies upon for attacks just like the one we saw on June 6. Ukraine’s Bryansk strike caps what must go down as one of the worst weeks of the Ukraine war for Russia. It’s the last in a series of strikes that started with the brilliant Operation Spiderweb, which destroyed more than 40 of Russia’s aircraft and cost Putin $7 billion in military hardware. Find out just how bad this week has been for Putin by checking out our video covering the period between June 1 and June 4. And remember to subscribe to The Military Show if you want more videos that dive deep into the latest victories Ukraine achieves against Russian aggressors. The Military Show

SITE COUNT