Russia is increasing its use of S-300 and S-400 air defense systems to strike ground targets, a sign that Moscow is running out of ballistic missiles, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force said on Monday, as quoted by Reuters.

Official Yuriy Ignat referred to Ukrainian intelligence data that Russia has less than 100 Iskander ballistic missiles left. According to him, Russia instead uses its S-300 and S-400 systems “because of the large amount of ammunition”.

“The adversary is trying to use its potential because many S-300 missiles have already been produced, (Russia) is the manufacturer of these missiles and is already using them in this way,” he said.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense said last month that Russia had probably used up most of its stockpile of SS-26 Iskander short-range ballistic missiles, which can carry a 500kg warhead up to 500km away.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment on the claims, which could not be independently verified.

Dwindling stockpiles could become a key issue for both sides in a war that has raged for nearly 11 months and looks set to continue.

The S-300 system belongs to the family of surface-to-air missiles originally developed by the Soviet Union. It was first put into service in the late 1970s after a decade of development.

Both Ukraine and Russia use them, although the latter has many more systems in its inventory.

Moscow developed the S-400 system to replace the aging S-300 system in 2007. Ignat said that the Russian military prefers to use the S-300 (more) against ground targets, although the S-400 is also used in this mode.

According to him, the S-300 can be used against ground targets at a distance of up to 150 km and pose a threat to Ukraine.

“The S-300 is a threat, and of course we won’t have enough systems from the West to shoot down every S-300 from the air. We must destroy them at the positions from which they are fired at,” he said.

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