Ukraine Says Lima Quant Electronic Warfare Diverted Two Russian Oreshnik Missiles in May, NYT Reports

Ukraine says its Lima Quant electronic-warfare system diverted two Russian Oreshnik ballistic missiles during a May 24 attack, sending one into a garage complex in the Kyiv region and causing the other to break apart over Russian-occupied territory, The New York Times reported. ⠀ The account came from Ukrainian electronic-warfare personnel interviewed by the newspaper. A commander of the Night Watch unit, known by the call sign Alchemist, credited the domestically developed system with disrupting the missiles’ navigation, but the claimed role of electronic interference has not been independently verified. ⠀ One missile struck near Bila Tserkva, south of Kyiv, damaging garages and nearby business buildings. The other came down in Russian-occupied territory in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials have said. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the two launches in a May letter to Washington, but that confirmation alone does not establish why the missiles missed their intended targets. ⠀ Lima Quant, developed by Ukraine’s Cascade Systems with the Night Watch unit, uses electronic interference and false satellite-navigation signals to throw incoming weapons off course. The system can also disrupt everyday GPS devices, causing phones and car navigation systems around Kyiv to show locations as far away as Lima, Peru. ⠀ The company and military personnel have credited the system with diverting thousands of drones and dozens of missiles. Those figures, like the precise circumstances of the Oreshnik incident, have not been independently verified. ⠀ The claimed success would be significant because Russia has promoted the nuclear-capable Oreshnik as a weapon difficult to intercept with conventional air defenses. Ukraine is increasingly relying on electronic warfare alongside missile interceptors as Russian aerial attacks continue.