Zelenskyi set the task to speed up the creation of Ukrainian ballistic missiles as much as possible

During a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s Staff, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi instructed to speed up the development of a Ukrainian ballistic missile as much as possible.

This became known from the evening address of the President of Ukraine.

“Briefly about today. I held a meeting. There were reports on the supply of our brigades, on the equipment of our units. I also spoke in great detail about the Ukrainian missile program, our missile developments, and our production facilities. The task is to speed up the creation of our Ukrainian ballistics as much as possible,” he stated.

According to the President of Ukraine, the war should be felt where it came from. And our long-range capability is a clear and effective guarantee of security for Ukraine.

Development of Ukrainian ballistic missiles

In February 2022, before the start of Russia’s large-scale aggression, Ukraine allocated several hundred million hryvnias for the missile industry. In particular, it was supposed to finance the creation of a domestic operational and tactical complex known as Sapsan and Hrim-2.

It is known that at that time, an operational-tactical missile system was being developed for two types of missiles: 900 mm in diameter with a range of 500 km for domestic use and 600 mm in diameter with a range of 280 km with the prospect of export.

In July 2024, the President said that Ukraine had been approaching the use of domestic ballistic missiles. In early August, it became known that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine had allocated additional funds for the Ukrainian missile program.

On August 27, 2024, Volodymyr Zelenskyi officially confirmed the successful test of the first domestic ballistic missile.

“There was a positive test of the first Ukrainian ballistic missile,” the President of Ukraine said at the time.

No technical details about the Ukrainian ballistic missile are currently known, but it is likely to be a continuation of the Sapsan/Hrim-2 project.

In April 2025, Minister of Strategic Industries Herman Smetanin said that production volumes had already ensured the regular use of the domestic ballistic missile and the Long Neptune.

Read more about the history of Ukrainian projects of tactical missile systems in our special publication.