According to Ukraine’s intelligence agency, after conducting extensive raids on Kiev-side locations, Russia looks to have used the majority of its Iskander ballistic missile arsenal.
Vadym Skibitskyi, the main intelligence officer of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said that Russia is believed to have used 80% of its stockpile of Iskander missiles in large-scale raids against neighboring countries in recent years.
According to the official, Russia seems to have only 120 missiles of this type left. In addition, Skibitskyi said that Ukraine’s intelligence services have received information on suspicions that Russia appears to be planning to buy Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar ballistic missiles from Iran and deliver them to Crimea by air and sea. Russian Caspian by sea.
“We know that the two sides have reached an agreement,” the official said.
Russia has not commented on the information provided by Ukraine.
In August, Ukraine said that Russia was gradually running out of 3M14 Kalibr ground-attack cruise missiles, while the 9K720 Iskander-M short-range cruise missile had only about 20% left.
However, in October, Russia launched a large-scale ambush campaign using missiles and suicide drones (UAVs) to massively attack Russian military, energy, and communications targets. Ukraine, causing the Kiev side to suffer heavy losses.
According to The Drive , some information suggests that Russia may be lacking ground-attack missiles. For example, it is said that Russia seems to have used specialized anti-aircraft missiles such as the S-300 or anti-ship missiles from the Cold War to carry out the task of destroying land targets. of Ukraine.
Rapidly replenishing its stockpile of ground-attack missiles could pose a challenge for Russia as Western sanctions are seen to have an impact on Moscow’s high-tech manufacturing sector.
Iskander-M can fly at an altitude of 50km, range from 50 – 480km. Because the Iskander uses solid propellant rocket propulsion, the flight trajectory changes flexibly, so it is difficult to predict. It can carry thermobaric warheads, fragmentation warheads, nuclear warheads or ground-penetrating warheads.
The Russian-Ukrainian war situation is still tense, in which Kherson on the southern front is currently considered a hot spot of fighting.
Ukraine’s military said on November 7 that its forces shot down a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft in Kherson.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said that Russia is stepping up the operation to ensure security for Kherson, in order to find clues about guerrilla operations conducted by Ukraine.
On the other hand, Ukraine suspects that Russia is sending a false signal that it is about to withdraw its troops from Kherson to create a “trap” for Ukrainian forces.
“Russian forces are trying to convince people that they are withdrawing, but we have seen evidence that they are still staying. Military units are stationed there and have a lot of military equipment. In this area, combat positions have also been established. The battle positions that have been deployed on the left bank of the Diepner River will be used to support the combat positions on the right bank,” the spokesman said. Ukrainian military Natalia Humeniuk said, emphasizing that the Kiev side is implementing its own strategy to deal with this situation.
