Fedorov: Ukraine could be capable of targeting Russia with domestically produced ballistic missiles in three to six months

Ukraine could be capable of targeting Russia with domestically produced ballistic missiles in three to six months, former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov estimated, the British newspaper The Guardian reports today.

Kiev has so far relied mainly on long-range drones and cruise missiles for attacks deep inside Russia, but it will be much more difficult for Russian forces to intercept ballistic missile attacks.

In an interview with CBS News, Fedorov said, "We have to beat Russia in every technology cycle."

While Ukraine is rapidly innovating, Fedorov warned that Russia is also advancing rapidly. Ukrainian defense company Fire Point is developing ballistic missiles and conducted a test launch in June. Fedorov was a key driver of Ukraine's highly successful drone program, but was controversially removed in July.

Ukraine carried out one of the largest drone attacks since the start of the war on Sunday, setting off a fire at a Wildberries distribution warehouse near Moscow, killing at least six people, according to Russian authorities.

The Defense Ministry in Moscow said it had shot down 1.478 Ukrainian drones in the previous 24 hours – the highest number it has reported so far, reports Dan Sabag, defense and security editor at The Guardian.

Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov described the nighttime attack as "one of the most massive drone attacks in recent times."

In that attack, Ukraine hit a rocket fuel production facility in the Rostov region of Russia, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday. It said the company "produces solid rocket fuel for multiple launch rocket systems, as well as for a range of missile systems and aviation weapons."

A Spanish fighter jet shot down a drone that entered Romanian airspace near the border with Ukraine and Moldova on Sunday, NATO said. The drone, which entered from the direction of Moldova, was intercepted by an F-18 jet deployed as part of a NATO mission, the Romanian Defense Ministry said. The debris fell in an uninhabited area in the Galati region, near the Ukrainian border. A growing number of drones are entering the airspace of NATO countries in Eastern Europe as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine.

The European Union's (EU) High Representative for Foreign Policy Kaia Kalas said she wants to increase the number of Russian entities under sanctions over the war in Ukraine by a third, the German newspaper Die Welt reported today.

The European Union has adopted 21 packages of sanctions against Russia since 2022.

"For the fall, I am proposing the most extensive expansion of the sanctions list since the beginning of the war. If adopted, I would immediately increase the total number of sanctioned Russian entities by a third," Kalas told the newspaper.

The EU adopted a softened sanctions package in July only after lengthy negotiations among member states, as some opposed stricter measures.

In Ukraine, a wave of Russian drone and missile attacks killed two people and wounded 14 at an ArcelorMittal steel plant in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Sunday. The plant, one of Ukraine's largest steel producers, said it had partially suspended operations because of the attacks.

Another attack in Kryvyi Rih on Sunday evening killed one person. Attacks in Zaporizhia region killed two more people. In Kiev, a Russian attack hit the popular Pochaynaya open-air book market, known as a place to find rare and antiquarian books.

Bookseller Dmitro Semenuka saw all four of his stalls burned to the ground.

"There used to be a shop there. And books, and flags of all countries, of all countries. Tons of everything. And now there's nothing," the 45-year-old told Agence France-Presse.

Zelensky said in a social media post about the night attack that "wherever the Russians can reach with their ballistic missiles, they are targeting civilian infrastructure."

Over the past week, Zelensky said, Ukrainian cities have been subjected to attacks with "more than 1.550 attack drones, almost 1.560 guided aerial bombs and 62 missiles," while he again called on allies to provide Ukraine with additional air defense systems.

Russian officials announced today that six people were killed and four others were wounded, including a 14-year-old child, in a Ukrainian missile attack overnight in the Belgorod region.