Behind talk of Russia “burying” a super‑missile 1,400km from the front is a very real shift in this war: both sides are pushing the fight far beyond the visible front line.

Moscow has heavily advertised its new generation of “super weapons” — from the nuclear‑capable RS‑28 Sarmat ICBM to air‑launched Kinzhal and ship‑launched Zircon hypersonic missiles. The message is clear: key launchers and storage sites can sit deep inside Russian territory, hundreds or even thousands of kilometres from Ukraine, yet still threaten cities, power grids and ports. Basing critical systems far inland is meant to put them safely out of reach.

Kyiv’s answer has surprised many defence planners. In 2023–24, Ukraine rolled out a growing arsenal of home‑built long‑range drones and, with Western help, precision missiles such as Storm Shadow/SCALP‑EG and ATACMS. These weapons have struck air bases, command centres, Black Sea Fleet ships and oil infrastructure hundreds of kilometres from the front, including targets in occupied Crimea and inside Russia’s own regions.

The result is an emerging deep‑strike duel: Russia tries to shield key assets behind distance and air defences; Ukraine works to prove that no depot, base or refinery is truly untouchable. Each successful hit reverberates far beyond the battlefield, rattling markets, complicating logistics and forcing both sides to rethink where anything can be stored or moved safely.

For the wider world, the lesson is stark: in the age of cheap drones and long‑range precision weapons, the idea of a “rear area” is disappearing — and with it, old assumptions about how far a war can be kept from home.