Russia “may” seek to build up a “significant” stockpile of air-launched cruise missiles (ALCM) for use in attacks on Ukraine this winter, the UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) has said.
In an intelligence update on Saturday, the Defense Department wrote that the intended target of these winter attacks was likely Ukrainian infrastructure.
The defense ministry’s assessment follows reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s armed forces are burning through large quantities of missiles as they work to produce more weapons.
In an analysis of the war on Wednesday, U.S. think tank the Institute for War said that both Ukrainian and Russian sources said the Russian defense industrial base faced “increasing challenges” in replacing essential materiel, in addition to “rebuilding precision weapons stockpiles.” known challenges.”
Photography: MIKHAIL METZEL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
The MoD wrote that information from open sources suggested that the number of ALCMs launched by the Russian military had decreased since April, “while Russian leaders have highlighted efforts to increase cruise missile production rates.”
According to the Defense Department, before taking steps to reduce the use of ALCMs, Russia conducted long-range missile attacks on Ukraine’s national energy infrastructure between October 2022 and March 2023.
“Air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs), especially the modern AS-23a KODIAK, are at the heart of most such strike missions,” the Defense Department wrote. “Russia uses strategic bombers to release these munitions from deep within Russian territory.”
The Defense Department added, “As a result, Russia may be able to store large quantities of ALCM.”
The British department said: “There is a high likelihood that Russia will focus these weapons again on infrastructure targets in Ukraine during the winter.”
Weekly newspaper The Russian Defense Ministry was contacted for comment via email.
Moscow continues to carry out massive missile attacks on Ukraine despite Defense Department reports that Russia is preserving its missile stockpile. One such attack on Wednesday in Kostian Tinivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region was the deadliest attack on civilian targets in Ukraine since January.
Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile hit a market in the Kostyantynivka attack, killing at least 17 people, including a child, and injuring 32 others.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Thursday that Russia has lost a total of 1,455 cruise missiles since Putin launched war against Ukraine in February 2022. Weekly newspaper Kiev’s statistics could not be independently verified, and the Kremlin has not made public its estimate of equipment losses.
