Air Force compares Russian missile stockpiles now and year ago
Russians may launch massive strikes on Ukraine's energy system in winter (Photo: GettyImages)
"Russians will act following their strategic plan. Their main idea is to destroy Ukraine. However, currently, the occupiers have a smaller stockpile of missiles than last year, said Yurii Ihnat, the spokesperson for the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Force, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
"Believe me, they will want to do us as much damage as possible. Nothing has changed in their policy. If they haven't started such strikes yet, they can do it any other day. But they don't have as many means as they did last year," Ihnat on the question of this year's threats of mass shelling of Ukraine's energy system.
He reminded that in the past year, within 6 months of attacks on the energy sector (from September 9 to March 12), approximately 1100 cruise missiles were launched at Ukraine, of which Ukrainian defenders successfully intercepted 750.
The occupiers kept 30% of their arsenal in reserves, the total number of which was approximately 1600 units as of September last year.
"Now they have both types of Kinzhal and Iskanders, as well as X-22s, Kalibr, Kh-101s, and Kh-555s, totaling 870. So, according to my calculations, they have fewer missiles now," explained Ihnat.
Commenting on last year's drone attacks, he noted that during that period, over 1000 attacks on the energy sector were launched, and up to 750 were destroyed.
"Now the situation is different for the Russians - they can both produce and receive more drones from Iran," says Ihnat.
At the same time, he does not rule out the possibility of an enemy strike in the form of combined attacks with Shahed drones and missiles simultaneously. He emphasizes that currently, the occupiers are not just accumulating missiles – they are replenishing their strategic stock.
"After all, most of the missiles we are talking about are also carriers of tactical nuclear weapons. They need this critical stockpile to threaten NATO countries and other enemies," Ihnat concluded.
Russian shelling of Ukraine's energy infrastructure
Russian occupiers have been massively shelling Ukraine's energy system from last fall until almost March 2023.
The enemy sought to cause a blackout, and due to numerous attacks, some energy facilities were heavily damaged. This led to power outages in Ukraine.
