RT reported that on January 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a 20-minute video summarizing the country's achievements in 2024, along with meaningful messages and wishes for the people and military in 2025.
“Ukraine is again making its own missiles. For the first time, we have produced more than a million unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a year, making our enemies wary of names like Neptune or Sapsan,” President Zelensky said.
During the speech, images of Ukrainian missiles and UAVs on the battlefield were constantly intercut. However, when he mentioned the Sapsan missile at minute 7:58, the image that appeared was said to be the launch of a South Korean Hyunmoo-2A missile, according to Russian media.
RT said that President Zelensky presented the South Korean missile as if it were made in Ukraine. Telegram channel Operation Z: War reporters of Russian Spring accused Mr. Zelensky of spreading false information. Telegram channel Voyenny Osvedomitel also criticized the same thing, saying that the video editor was mainly responsible.
The Sapsan missile was developed by Ukraine since 2006, but the process was repeatedly delayed due to lack of funding. In 2018, Ukraine presented a model of this system at a military parade.
The Sapsan complex is said to have a range of 500 km, surpassing the ATACMS system supplied to Kiev by the US. Ukrainian experts believe that this type of missile could be a turning point in the conflict with Russia. However, there are no reliable reports confirming that the Sapsan has ever been used on the battlefield.
