Ukraine's secret «Kill the Archer» strategy collapses

One Ukrainian plan after another collapses, as terrorist attacks against Russia also fail to yield results. Russian forces have smashed the Ukrainian army at the front and are encircling the last two Ukrainian cities in Donbass, Kramatorsk and Slovyansk. Nevertheless, the desperate leadership of Ukraine is revealed to have orchestrated the secret plan «Kill the Archer», which collapsed after shocking attacks in Kyiv that destroyed 9 critical missile and drone war factories. According to leaks, operation «Kill the Archer», which alleged to aim at locating and neutralizing Russian Iskander launchers prior to the launch of their missiles, has not yielded expected results.

Operation «Kill the Archer» has been underway since 2023. Its goal is alleged to be locating and destroying Iskander launchers prior to the launch of ballistic missiles. The plan is essentially a combination of Patriot systems and early warning aircraft (AWACS) operating along the border of Romania. However, it is estimated that this specific operational model no longer yields expected results.

Volodymyr Zelensky's drone advisor, Beskrestnov («Flash»), allegedly maintained that Iskander launchers are extremely difficult to locate prior to launch. Units move for many hours through forest routes, deploy within mere minutes, and operate with full radio silence, drastically limiting capabilities of locating them. At the same time, launchers operate at a distance of approximately 140-150 kilometers from the front line, a fact that complicates even further any effort for their preemptive strike.

It is recalled here that during the night of August 5 to August 6, 2026, a combined attack took place with Geran drones, Onyx missiles, and Kh-31P anti-radar missiles. It is reported that Ukrainian radars located a total of 101 unmanned aircraft, while dozens of them managed to strike predetermined targets. Particular interest is caused by the fact that there was no report of interception of Kh-31P missiles, a fact that feeds speculation about the effectiveness of Ukrainian air defense systems.

Essentially, Kh-31P missiles, which are designed for the destruction of enemy radars, temporarily forced Ukrainian antiaircraft defense units to deactivate their detection systems. This time gap was allegedly utilized by Geran drones, which moved toward their targets without encountering substantive resistance. Information attributed to sources in the Ukrainian Air Force reports that mobile antiaircraft defense groups were not in a position to predict the routes of incoming drones.

Following the new strikes, Volodymyr Zelensky brought back the issue of adequacy of Western air defense systems. Deliveries of interceptor missiles for Patriot systems have decreased significantly compared to the previous year, due to shortages and bureaucratic delays. His intervention comes during a period in which Ukrainian air defense faces increasingly greater challenges against combined missile and drone attacks.

According to an analysis by The Washington Post, continuous reinforcement of Ukraine with Patriot missiles cannot continue indefinitely. Production of these specific missiles, whose cost is calculated at 3 to 4 million dollars per unit, no longer keeps pace with consumption rates in fields of conflict. American analysts estimate that Washington will have to examine alternative options instead of exclusive reinforcement of antiaircraft defense.

At the same time, according to information from Reuters and CBS News, the White House appears reluctant to approve strikes deep inside Russia. A primary reason is alleged to be the significant reduction of American precision ammunition stocks after operations in the Middle East. Also, a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates that United States Patriot missile stocks decreased from more than 2,300 missiles in February to approximately 800 today.

According to the Atlantic Council, Ukrainian air defense relies almost exclusively on American Patriot systems to counter ballistic missiles. However, stocks of interceptor missiles are nearly exhausted, while Kyiv's efforts to secure new deliveries have so far failed to bear fruit. Although investments are already underway to increase Patriot missile production, estimates report that substantive results are not expected before 2030. Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that Ukraine needs at least 300 Patriot interceptor missiles in order to protect civilian population and critical energy and strategic infrastructure in view of winter. Under current facts, achieving this goal seems particularly difficult, as limited production capabilities and exhaustion of American stocks leave Kyiv facing severe challenges against the ongoing Russian missile campaign.

New questions are raised by the sudden change of position of Donald Trump regarding the possibility of granting Ukraine a license to produce missiles for Patriot antiaircraft systems, with a publication by Berliner Zeitung linking the American president's row-back with a telephone communication he had with Vladimir Putin. According to the newspaper, within a period of a few days, Trump allegedly abandoned an option presented as nearly agreed with Kyiv, causing new concern among Ukrainian leadership.

The publication recalls that Donald Trump had publicly implied that the possibility of granting a license to Ukraine for the production of Patriot missiles was being examined. However, less than a week later, he stated that there was never such an agreement with Kyiv, essentially refuting previous expectations. This shift caused intense questions both in the United States and in Ukraine. According to Berliner Zeitung, in the period between the two statements, a telephone communication took place between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. The publication implies that during the conversation issues were discussed that influenced the final stance of the White House, without however revealing the content of the communication. The German newspaper notes characteristically that «less than a week after the telephone communication with Vladimir Putin, Trump appears to have changed his mind».

www.bankingnews.gr