Eight Russian Soldiers Killed in Strike on Iskander Missile Launcher in Bryansk Region

A Ukrainian missile strike on an Iskander missile launcher in Russia’s Bryansk region killed eight Russian servicemen and injured five others.

ASTRA reported on this, citing its own sources in regional medical services.

The attack reportedly took place early in the morning near the village of Martyanovka in the Klintsovsky district, close to the Ukrainian border.

ASTRA reported that several missiles struck the Iskander missile battery.

On June 5, Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed that the country’s armed forces, in coordination with the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), had targeted a Russian Iskander system in the area of Klintsy, Bryansk region.

Ukrainian intelligence identified the site as belonging to the 26th Rocket Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces. The launchers were reportedly preparing to strike a Ukrainian target — likely Kyiv — when they were located and hit.

The author of the OSINTtechnical blog geolocated the strike to roughly 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, near Martyanovka.

The Ukrainian military reported that one launcher detonated upon impact, and two others were likely damaged.

Speaking on June 7, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that “Three Iskander systems were destroyed the other day — it was the elimination of pure killers.”

While the General Staff released video footage of the strike, independent confirmation remains limited. Analysts caution that the visual evidence could also depict the North Korean-produced KN-23, which resembles the Russian Iskander-M.

Destroying Iskander systems is particularly difficult. The mobile launchers frequently relocate to avoid detection, and their ballistic and cruise missiles can be launched from long distances. These factors make them elusive and complicate efforts to neutralize them.

This latest strike likely targeted launchers positioned close to the Ukrainian border to enable short-range attacks. Launching from a reduced distance shortens missile flight time and flattens the trajectory, complicating interception efforts, especially around high-value targets like Kyiv.

For further analysis, see Militarnyi’s articles: “Iskander: A Weapon of Missile Terror” and “Terror of Ukraine, Nurtured by Turning a Blind Eye to the INF Treaty Violations: Cruise Missiles for Iskander-K” (in Ukrainian).