Ukraine has deployed a so-called long-range ‘drone missile’ called Palyanytsia against Russia for the first time.
The first successful use of the new weapon was confirmed by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during Ukraine’s Independence Day speech on August 24, 2024.
“This is our new method of retaliation against the aggressor. The enemy has been defeated”, Zelenskyy said during his speech. “It will be challenging for Russia, and it will be even more difficult to say exactly what [missile or drone] struck.”
The next day, on August 25, 2024, Zelenskyy shared a video on X providing more information about Palyanytsia, claiming that since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, “Russia has launched about 10,000 missiles of various types and more than 33,000 glide bombs at Ukraine.”
“Stopping attacks on our cities can be achieved by targeting the carriers of this weaponry—Russian aircraft stationed at military airfields,” Zelenskyy said.
Palyanytsia [named after a popular Ukrainian bread – ed. note] was designed domestically “to destroy the enemy’s offensive potential,” the Ukrainian President continued.
Oleksandr Kamyshin, the country’s minister for Strategic Industries, claimed that the drone-missile is a “completely new class of weapon.”
The ground-launched system reportedly combines the maneuverability and controls of a drone with the speed and explosive power of a missile. Despite being defined as a “rocket drone” by Ukrainian authorities, it is propelled by a jet engine. It is also claimed to be cheaper than a regular cruise missile.
Zelenskyy did not provide any more technical information about the weapon, nor did he specify the location where it was deployed.
Ukraine has recently intensified its attacks on Russian soil, targeting air bases housing bombers used to target Ukrainian cities.
On August 22, 2024, a fire broke out following a drone strike at the Marinovka Air Base in Russia’s Volgograd region, from which several squadrons of tactical bombers are operating.
On August 24, 2024, another drone attack on a large Russian ammunition depot took place in the Voronezh region, as reported by the Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense. Despite speculation, it is unclear if it was the Palyanytsia drone.