The attacks at the beginning of the week on Ukrainian cities were striking in their scale, and the question arises whether Putin will be able to carry out other similar operations, according to Le Monde, which quotes Rador.

“Russian stocks were undervalued”

Although a response from Russia was expected after the attack on the Kerch Bridge, this wave of missiles is worrisome in its scale.

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 from S-300 or S-400 anti-aircraft batteries to launch 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 land targets. This means that their stockpile of advanced missiles has been largely depleted,” says Vincent Tourre.

Remains of Russian missiles in a park in the center of Kyiv Photo: Oleksandr Gusev / Zuma Press / Profimedia

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 critical components of the next-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.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is demanding new air defense systems from its Western allies so they can intercept Russian missiles before they reach their targets.

According to Volodymyr Zelenskyi, 43 out of 84 missiles launched by Moscow over the past two days were destroyed in flight, as well as 13 drones out of 24. This is a lot, analysts say, but not enough according to the Ukrainian military.

“We have to repel these attacks using Soviet-era weapons, which we don’t have enough of,” Army Chief Valery Zaluzhny complained on Twitter, according to Le Monde, as cited by Rador.

German support has arrived: IRIS-T

Germany handed over the first of the four promised Iris-T air defense systems to Ukraine, the handover took place on Tuesday near the Polish-Ukrainian border.

According to the federal government, the weapon is Germany’s most advanced air defense system and is being developed by Germany’s Diehl Defence. Anti-aircraft missiles can hit targets at an altitude of up to 20 kilometers and at a distance of up to 40 kilometers.

Thus, their range is much greater than, for example, shoulder-based anti-aircraft missiles, such as the Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, which Germany also supplies to Ukraine.

Each system costs 140 million euros, diplomat Andriy Melnyk said in June, according to Bloomberg.

• On the same topic: Forbes calculated the colossal amount that Russia spent on a massive attack on Ukraine

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