Russia has begun using Iskander-M ballistic missiles with cluster warheads whose submunitions detonate 20 to 30 minutes after the missile's impact. The submunitions scatter hundreds of meters from the strike point and then begin exploding, putting at risk anyone who arrives at the site or evacuates from adjacent buildings, Ukrainian air-threat monitor eRadar warns.
The tactic targets exactly the population that responds to a strike: paramedics, firefighters, neighbors arriving to help, and civilians evacuating from buildings damaged by the initial impact.
How does warhead work?
The bomblets on the Iskander-M's cluster warhead have historically been designed to detonate roughly 6 to 10 meters above the ground. Variants include fragmentation submunitions, anti-armor PTAB-2.5КО bomblets, and remote-mining warheads that lay PFM-1 anti-personnel mines or POM-2 self-positioning mines, per Militarnyi.
The variant described by eRadar includes a programmed timer that initiates detonation 20 to 30 minutes after the missile arrives, a delay precisely calibrated to the typical response window for paramedics and rescue workers.
Pattern of strikes on civilians and responders
Russia has used cluster-warhead Iskanders against Ukrainian civilian targets repeatedly. On 4 April 2025, an Iskander cluster missile struck a residential neighborhood in Kryvyi Rih, including a playground, killing 20 civilians, including nine children. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, it was the deadliest single attack on Ukrainian children since the start of the full-scale war.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights documented "hundreds of fragments" hitting homes, playgrounds, and trees, and described the strike as "reckless disregard for civilian life" that may constitute a war crime.
Ukrainian authorities urge anyone in proximity to a strike site to keep a distance, avoid suspicious objects, and wait for explosive ordnance disposal teams.
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