A source within the pro-Russian underground claims that Russia’s new long-range precision-guided Filin missile has triggered panic in Ukraine. According to the source, the weapon poses a serious challenge to Ukrainian air defenses because of the high cost of intercepting it.

Speaking to TASS, the source said Ukrainian officials are struggling to find an effective response to the Filin. He claimed that the concern stems not from the missile’s exceptional destructive power, but from uncertainty over how to counter it.

According to the report, Ukrainian forces must rely on expensive air defense systems, including the US-made Patriot, to intercept the Russian missile. Even these systems cannot guarantee a successful interception. The source argued that Kiev cannot afford to use enough costly interceptor missiles to counter the threat on the required scale.

The underground source also claimed that Ukrainian officials are discussing the problem in private online chats. Despite growing concern, he said they have yet to identify an effective way to counter the new Russian weapon.

Earlier, military expert Vasily Dandykin described the Filin as a hybrid of a missile and a drone, with an estimated range of 1,200 kilometers and a maximum speed of 600 kilometers per hour.

Dandykin noted that such weapons are difficult to intercept using conventional methods. He argued that helicopters are ineffective against the Filin, leaving Ukrainian air defense units dependent on expensive surface-to-air missiles.