Russia may face an acute shortage of cruise missiles, and this problem cannot be solved so easily, – says Yuriy Ignat, the spokesman of the Air Force Command of Ukraine, the Correspondent writes, citing Rador.

Ignat notes the decrease in Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure

He stated that the air force fires rockets at Ukrainian troops every day, but he emphasized that the situation with cruise missiles is completely different.

“In October, not so much was used, up to 15 Kalibr missiles were used in a month. It is obvious that the enemy has a deficit. And they cannot be quickly produced and put on the conveyor. Now they have been removed to the Black Sea,” Ignat said.

According to the military, the Russian Federation also has a small number of Iskander, Kh-555 and Kh-101 missiles.

At the same time, the representative of the Air Force Command reminded that the Russian occupiers continue constant shelling of the frontline areas with the use of artillery systems and S-300 missiles.

Shares are undervalued

However, Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian cities at the beginning of October surprised by their scale, and the question is whether Putin will be able to conduct other operations of the same type, writes Le Monde.

In 2019, researchers from the Swedish FOI institute, whose ten-year research on the Russian army is a benchmark, assessed the Russian stockpile of modern ballistic and cruise missiles (Iskander, Tochka-U, Kh-101, Kh-555, Kalibr). etc).

However, since February, the Russians have fired almost 3,000 missiles over Ukraine.

“Russian stockpiles were clearly underestimated,” says Vincent Turret, a researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Studies, but notes that taking into account the launches of non-ballistic missiles (Hail, Tornado, etc.) may partially distort the numbers.

Under these conditions, it is difficult to know whether Vladimir Putin has the means to carry out further attacks on the same scale as the Ukrainian government fears.

“Russian stocks of modern cruise missiles are running out, but exact numbers cannot be given. Especially since there is probably a limit that the Russian army will not exceed in order to maintain an acceptable number in reserve in the event of a military conflict against NATO,” said Dimitri Minik, a Russia expert at the French Institute of International Relations.

Moscow must also maintain its nuclear deterrent, which relies on the Kalibr, Iskander and Kh-101 missiles.

According to Western experts, the Russian reserve will still be close to the zero point

Moscow’s use of missiles fired by S-300 or S-400 anti-aircraft batteries for ground strikes, as seen in Ukraine in recent weeks, would be indicative in this regard.

“There is an unnaturally frequent use of a number of surface-to-air missiles or anti-ship missiles, sometimes even obsolete ones, directed at ground targets. This means that their stockpile of advanced missiles has been largely depleted,” says Vincent Tourre.

Can Russia replace the launched missiles? Difficult Russian access to components

Russia has the means to replace the missiles it uses in Ukraine.

According to the FOI Institute, before the war Moscow had an annual production capacity of 120-200 so-called “tactical-operational” missiles. But now this pace is undoubtedly affected by Western sanctions.

“Ultimately, Russian cruise missiles will be less effective, less ‘intelligent’, because the main components of the new generation weapons will be difficult, if not impossible, to access. This is if Russia and partners such as China do not develop such complex components,” Dimitri Minik emphasizes.