An expert assessed Russia's stockpile of ballistic missiles
The Russian Federation’s military is facing an acute and critical shortage of ballistic missiles, forcing the occupying forces to replace them en masse with cruise missiles during strikes on Ukrainian territory.
Aviation expert Valery Romanenko discussed this on the “Fabrika Novyn” program. According to him, Russia’s minimum stockpile of “Iskander-M” ballistic missiles has dropped from 200 units in April to just over 100 missiles today. This indicates that the enemy is gradually depleting its reserves.
The expert explained that the Russian Armed Forces currently have 14 missile brigades, each of which has 12 launchers and is required to maintain 96 missiles on them. Accordingly, the enemy’s optimal standard arsenal should consist of about 1,400 ballistic missiles on launchers alone, not counting strategic stockpiles. Instead, Russia’s actual stockpiles have fallen to 100 units, and army depots have been found to be completely empty.
Of the 14 existing units, only 5 brigades—which are directly involved in shelling Ukraine and are stationed in occupied Crimea, the Krasnodar Krai, and the Kursk and Bryansk regions—possess a partial inventory of operational missiles. All other Russian missile brigades are effectively deprived of ballistic weapons and are equipped only with a few training or cruise missiles.
In an attempt to compensate for the lack of ballistic missiles, the Russians are using “Iskander-K” cruise missiles; however, their stockpile is estimated at only 60 units, and monthly production does not exceed 10 units. According to Romanenko, such limited resources are forcing the enemy to resort to “urban warfare tactics,” under which the Russians carry out constant, but limited in the number of missiles, strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian settlements with the aim of exerting psychological pressure and keeping the civilian population in a constant state of tension.
Source: News Factory.
The Russian army has begun to use ballistic missiles more frequently and is increasingly launching strikes during the day to catch Ukrainian air defense systems off guard. At the same time, the Air Force says that Russia is also facing difficulties in missile production due to strikes by the Defense Forces on key military facilities.
On the night of July 27, Russian troops launched a massive attack on Ukraine, deploying 147 drones of various types. Air defense forces neutralized 123 enemy targets, though some strike drones were confirmed to have hit their targets.
