Russia is struggling to fight air threats on its own soil as it continues its war with Ukraine, according to the latest update from British intelligence.
“Russia has long placed a very important priority on maintaining complex floor air defenses, but it is transparent that it is suffering to counter air threats deep within Russia,” the British Defense Ministry said in an intelligence briefing on Twitter on Thursday.
The ministry referred to the drone attack on Russia’s Engels airbase on Monday, in which the Russian government killed 3 servicemen, blaming Ukraine for the attack.
“One of the most demanding situations for Russia is probably the exceptional call for its fleet of modern medium-range air defense systems, such as the SA-22 Pantsir, which is expected to play a leading role in the fight against [unmanned] UAVs. air vehicles],” the ministry said.
The ministry continued: “In addition to offering timely defense for strategic sites like Engels, such systems are lately needed in large numbers to locate headquarters near the front line in Ukraine. “
Monday’s attack on Engels airbase is the moment in 3 weeks. The base, more than 350 miles from the nearest Ukrainian-controlled territory, is one of the “main bases of operations of the Russian strategic bomber fleet. “
Yuriy Ignat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, alluded to Kyiv’s involvement in the latest attack.
Ignat recently told Ukrainian media Gazeta. ua that “these are the consequences of what Russia is doing in our land. If the Russians think that war would not bring them to the rear, then they were wrong. Such things happen more and more often,” and we hope that this will only gain advantages from Ukraine. “
Russia introduced a barrage of missiles into Ukraine on Thursday, in several cities besides Kyiv, Lviv, which lies near the Polish border, and the southwestern city of Odessa.
Ukraine’s military said it shot down 54 of the 69 missiles fired through Russia, according to Reuters. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted that “the downing of 54 missiles saved the lives of dozens of other people and key elements of our economic infrastructure. “
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said three other people were wounded in the attacks. In addition, almost a part of the population of Kyiv suffered a blackout. “Forty percent of the capital’s consumers were left without electricity after the Russian attack,” he added.
“Senseless barbarism. These are the only words that come to my mind as I watch Russia launch a missile barrage on nonviolent Ukrainian cities before the New Year,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted in reaction to the Russian missile strikes. Array “There can be no ‘neutrality’ in the face of such massive war crimes. To pretend to be ‘neutral’ is to side with Russia. “
Although intelligence from some Western countries has indicated that Russia is struggling to fight in Ukraine with a minimum imaginable in its number of missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that it will “never” run out of Kalibr missiles.
Newsweek has reached out to Russia’s Foreign Ministry for comment.
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