Ukrainian authorities estimate that Russia is depleting its reserves of long-range missiles, ahead of a second consecutive night of massive “kamikaze” drone attacks that points to a change in tactics in the Russian offensive for the invasion of the country.
More than 80 Iranian-produced “Shahed-131/136″ impact drones were launched by Russia in the first two nights of 2023, mostly targeting kyiv.
The Ukrainian armed forces claim that all 39 drones launched on Monday were shot down, but the destruction of private homes and infrastructure objects could not be completely prevented.
According to the head of the regional military administration, Oleksii Kuleba, eleven homes in two districts of the region were damaged in the latest attack, as well as critical energy infrastructure facilities. As a consequence, there were emergency power cuts in the capital.
The spokesman for the Ukrainian air forces, Yurit Ignat, attributes the high percentage of Russian drones shot down to the experience gained in these months of war to counter them, as well as the increasing use of defensive systems provided by Western allies.
However, he warned that these anti-aircraft defense systems “are running out”, as is the ammunition they need, to which is added the need to repair the equipment.
According to Ignat, this is precisely the objective of the drone attacks, in addition to attacking critical infrastructures and trying to break the fighting spirit of the Ukrainians.
On New Year’s Eve, the NASAMS systems were used so heavily that there was barely time to reload them with missiles, Ignat revealed.
“This once again demonstrates to our partners the effectiveness of our specialists, who have only received training a few weeks ago, but can use foreign-made combat equipment,” the spokesperson added. There is still ammunition, but more units of these weapons are needed.
The Ukrainian military expert Sergiy Grabskyi stressed to EFE that the country needs anti-aircraft defense systems of different types to create a multilevel shield of “protection of its sky”, which reinforces both its anti-aircraft and anti-missile defenses.
He also noted that it would make more sense, even from a cost-effectiveness point of view, to give Ukraine the means to attack Russian military bases inside Ukraine, thereby weakening Russia’s ability to launch missiles or drones at Ukraine.
Although Russia previously used drones to attack at night, the attacks were never this massive and tended to come as morning broke. In this start of 2023, they have started at ten or eleven at night and have continued until dawn.
According to Ignat, Russia could have used a hundred of the estimated 250 or so drones it received from Iran in December. Its active use suggests that Russia is probably sure that it will receive more from Iran.
Drones are known as “mopeds” due to the loud noise of their engines. Although they are easily heard, they are difficult to detect by radar.
They are also more difficult to spot visually in time, especially at night. Mobile groups of the Ukrainian army have been seen using cars equipped with projectors to help locate drones at night in kyiv.
Its massive use can also be explained by the need to stock up and prepare much more expensive long-range missiles. Ukrainian military intelligence representative Vadym Skibitskyi said on Ukrainian television Sunday that Russia only had missiles to launch another two or three massive attacks.
He claimed that Russia was especially short of “Iskander” ballistic missiles, while reserves of the “Kalibr”, X-101 and X-555 have also been depleted.
To date, Russia has carried out eleven massive attacks against critical infrastructure across the country with missiles and fourteen with drones. It continues to use artillery and aviation on a daily basis to attack infrastructure on the front line.
It does not appear that they have succeeded in undermining the Ukrainian determination to continue fighting. According to a survey carried out in December by the kyiv International Institute of Sociology, published on Monday, 85% of the population believe that Ukraine should not make any territorial concessions to Russia.
Source: EFE
Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
