Iskander Systems of the 448th Rocket Brigade Destroyed in the Kursk Region

During a strike by the Ukrainian Defense Forces on a hangar in August 2025, Iskander systems of the 448th Rocket Brigade, which was involved in the shelling of Sumy, were destroyed.

The identification of the equipment’s affiliation was carried out by user X under the nickname Naalsio.

Furthermore, based on the analysis of satellite images by the Potuzhny Informator (Powerful Informant) Telegram channel, it was established that the destruction of the Russian missile systems took place in August in the settlement of Shumakovo, Kursk region, at the coordinates 51.504965, 36.630173 – approximately 110 km from the line of active combat.

Confirmation that the destroyed equipment indeed belonged to this brigade came from distinctive markings visible on the launchers after the strike. These indicate the affiliation of the equipment to the 448th Rocket Brigade (marks in the form of arrows forming a circle) of the 20th Combined Arms Army (a diamond with a dot in the center).

Thanks to this identification, a deeper study of the unit can be conducted. The brigade’s permanent deployment location is the village of Klyukva (military unit 35535), Kursk district, Kursk region. Its rearmament with new Iskander missile systems took place before 2019, when they replaced the outdated Tochka-U systems.

During the rearmament period, the brigade was actively involved in training exercises. Between 2017 and 2021, its units participated in missile firing exercises at the Kapustin Yar training ground (Astrakhan region), at the Luzhsk artillery training ground, as well as in scheduled firing exercises as part of combat training.

After 2022, the brigade was involved in strikes on Ukrainian territory, including civilian targets in the Sumy region. As a result, it became one of the priority targets for certain units of the Defense Forces, which searched for and destroyed it.

In April 2025, Ukrainian forces struck the locations of the 448th Rocket Brigade in the settlements of Liski (Voronezh region) and Lezhenki (Kursk region).

The last recorded strike on the brigade’s equipment was in August 2025, during which the defenders managed to destroy one 9P78-1 self-propelled launcher and five 9T250 transport and loading vehicles.

The damage indicates that a divisional number of 9T250 transport and loading vehicles were stored in the hangar. Therefore, it is likely that at the time of the strike, other self-propelled launchers had either already been deployed or moved to another location.

In general, the staffing and organizational structure of missile brigades equipped with Iskander systems consists of three divisions. Each division is divided into two missile batteries, each comprising two self-propelled launchers and two transport and loading vehicles. In addition, the brigade includes support units: a command battery, a missile technical division, and a supply division.

Each missile battery has two 9P78-1 self-propelled launchers and two 9T250 transport and loading vehicles, which means four vehicles at the division level and 12 vehicles at the brigade level.