Russian forces are running so short of missiles they are bodging old weaponry stock not usually used against ground targets.
As well switching to using KH-22 anti-ship weapons to blast shopping malls they have now started redirecting ground-to-air-defence missiles.
It has led to escalating fears more civilians will be hit and killed as inappropriate missiles are notoriously inaccurate.
In Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine, the city has been hammered with devastating blasts from Russian anti-air weapons.
On Friday morning Kim Vitaly, head of Mykolaiv region, announced the new threat after investigating the new strikes.
Using the term “Rashist” which Ukrainians use to reference Russia ’s ruthless expansionism he said: “As you know, the Rashists are increasingly shelling Mykolaiv and the region.
“On the morning of July 8, the city was also shelled.
“The rocket attacks became more frequent, we started trying to find out how it happened and why.”
He said the Russians: “... are remaking S-300 missiles, there are a lot of them, they put GPS on them to shoot at the ground, it is not accurate because of that.
“And they shoot 12 rockets each, they took on villages, in particular Berezneguvate.”
He said that large buildings: “ . . .are being smashed, so be careful, listen to the air alarm.”
It follows an attack last month on a crowded shopping mall in Ukraine’s Kremenchuk city which killed at least 20 people.
That strike involved the firing of a KH-22 rocket from a Russian bomber, usually aimed at large maritime target like aircraft carriers.
One UK source said: “Increasingly Russia seems to be falling back on inaccurate weaponry, simply to cause terror and mass damage.
“Using redirected ground to air missiles to hit a ground target will be and is being very inacurate so there is little strategy except to kill indiscriminately.
“It makes little strategic sense but does cause alarm. It seems this is a developing pattern that Russia is throwing everything it has to hand at Ukraine.”
But on Friday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his troops remain strong and defiant.
He said he had visited frontline troops in central Ukraine and added:
“Spoke with our defenders, presented them with awards.
“Their mood is determined, it’s in their eyes- confidence in our victory.
“Thank you for fighting for the freedom of Ukraine.”
