Russia can currently simultaneously launch 77 ballistic missiles at Ukraine. The enemy plans to increase this salvo to 200. This was reported by Robert (Madyar) Brovdi, Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in an interview with Associated Press.
At the same time, he said, dozens of missiles launched by Russia during mass strikes hit targets because Ukraine currently lacks interceptors for the American Patriot air defense systems.
"Even if they manage to do only half of that, everything will be flying at us," Brovdi noted.
The commander of the USF considers the only way to reduce the number of Russian ballistic missiles and decrease the threat from them to be strikes against all enemy facilities involved in rocket production. This underscores the importance of Ukrainian long-range strikes deep into Russian territory.
Among other threats facing Ukraine, Madyar named the enemy's use of a larger number of Shahed attack drones, which are significantly harder for Ukraine to shoot down. According to him, in recent weeks Russia has been launching two and a half times more such attack drones.
What preceded the statement
- In early June, Ukrainian intelligence reported that Russia could launch up to 100 ballistic missiles at Ukraine per month.
- On August 10, Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, said that Russia had halted production of Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and Kh-32. However, the enemy redirected resources to the manufacture of ballistic missiles.
- According to the GUR, as of early August, Russia had already fulfilled its annual production plan for Zircon and Onyx missiles and is exceeding plans for other missiles.
If the pace of salvo increase continues, the question of Patriot interceptors will become as critical as the systems themselves – without missiles for them, the complexes will not be able to close the sky even partially.
