Weapon dubbed the ‘Equaliser’ was developed in 17 months and signals Kyiv will no longer wait for Western allies to supply what it needs

Verity Bowman

Verity Bowman is The Telegraph’s Foreign and Global Health Security Reporter, covering conflict, human rights abuses, global development and international health issues, with a particular focus on Ukraine. She previously worked as a News Reporter at the Guardian and was named on the Press Awards’ 30 Under 30 list in 2024.

Published 02 June 2026

Across Ukraine, from Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia to Kherson, entire city blocks have been reduced to rubble by a weapon that costs relatively little to build and that no Western air defence system has found a reliable way to stop.

Russian glide bombs, Soviet-era munitions fitted with cheap guidance kits that turn unguided “dumb” bombs into precision weapons, are capable of being launched from inside Russian airspace, far beyond the reach of anything Ukraine can fire back.

For three years, they have been one of the most destructive weapons on the front line, and Ukraine has had no answer to them. Until now.

Last week, Ukraine unveiled its first domestically produced glide bomb, a weapon developed in 17 months and named the Vyrivniuvach, or “Equaliser”.

It is one of the most significant additions to Ukraine’s home-grown arsenal since the war began, and a deliberate signal that Kyiv is no longer willing to wait for its Western backers to supply what it needs.

“For a significant period, there was very little practical defence against Russian glide bombs, and that contributed significantly to heavy Ukrainian casualties along the front line,” said Keir Giles, an associate fellow of Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme and the author of Who Will Defend Europe

“Now that Ukraine is developing comparable capabilities of its own, this could potentially accelerate the pace at which Russian forces are pushed back.”

Glide bombs are conventional aircraft-dropped munitions fitted with wing kits and guidance systems that allow them to travel dozens of miles from their release point.

Safely beyond the reach of Ukrainian air defences, they glide dozens of miles to their targets with enough explosive yield to obliterate a fortified position or a building.

“Virtually any frontline artillery positions the Ukrainians have are at risk of being destroyed,” said Christoph Bergs, a research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi).

“While small FPV (first-person view) quadcopters and tactical drones can strike targets, they simply do not have the explosive yield of a 250kg or 500kg bomb.”

Ukraine hopes the answer to this dilemma will be the Vyrivniuvach, which carries a 500lb warhead.

Brave1, Kyiv’s national defence technology platform, has stressed the originality of the weapon, saying it was “not copied from Western or Soviet systems” and has completed “all required trials”.

Ukraine is essentially “doing independently what the US did not want it to be able to do”, Mr Giles said, building the strike capabilities that Washington was unwilling to supply and using them in ways that the US was unwilling to sanction.

The Vyrivniuvach was designed for compatibility with Ukraine’s existing air fleet, including its F-16 and Mirage jets, but it will need further certification before it can be deployed from those aircraft.

According to Brave1, it features high-precision targeting and modern guidance algorithms designed to evade Russian electronic warfare.

Experts say it will allow Ukraine to hit targets even further inside Russia, and to draw upon untapped stockpiles of weapons, including reserves of Soviet-era aviation bombs that have sat unused since the start of the war.

It is the same playbook Russia used when it first developed its glide-bomb capabilities in 2023, bolting its vast stockpile of old munitions to the glide systems.

“It adds another tool to Ukraine’s inventory with which it can target systems and positions that it cannot reliably destroy with drones alone,” said Mr Bergs.

“Having these bombs available provides the possibility of striking fortified areas, defensive positions, and command posts where a high explosive yield is required.”

But there are constraints to Ukraine’s capabilities.

“The fundamental problem for the Ukrainian air force is that it isn’t particularly big,” said Robert Tollast, a defence analyst and researcher at Rusi.

“Ukrainian jets, using guided glide bombs, tend to lob them at long distances to keep away from Russian aircraft, which have long-range and capable air-to-air missiles.”

That limitation matters enormously. Russia releases its glide bombs from altitudes of 20,000-25,000ft inside its own airspace, giving them maximum range and accuracy.

Ukrainian jets, forced to fly low to avoid Russian air defences, cannot match that, and flying low dramatically reduces how far a glide bomb can travel after release.

The Vyrivniuvach alone will not turn the tide.

But added to Ukraine’s growing arsenal of home-grown weapons, including the Flamingo missile, hunter-killer interceptor and long-range strike drones capable of reaching Moscow, it represents one more pressure point in a war that experts say will ultimately be decided not by a single weapon, but by the cumulative weight of many.

Mr Tollast said: “You need to impose a constant drumbeat of problems for the enemy to win a war.”