Russia likely stockpiling missiles for new attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure – UK intelligence

Russia has likely stockpiled missiles for a repeat of last year’s attempt by Moscow to destroy Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, reads the latest UK Defense Intelligence report published on Nov. 21.

Between Nov. 18 and 19, 2023, Russia launched about 50 Iranian-designed Shahed attack drones, mainly in the direction of Kyiv. They were launched in waves in two directions – from Kursk to the east and from Krasnodar to the southeast.

The UK Ministry of Defense noted that one of Russia’s goals was likely to weaken air defenses to set the stage for a concerted winter campaign of attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

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According to intelligence reports, Russia has refrained from launching its best air-launched cruise missiles from its fleet of heavy bombers for almost two months. This has likely allowed it to accumulate a significant stockpile of these weapons.

“Russia is highly likely to use these missiles if it repeats last year’s effort to destroy Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure,” UK Defense Intelligence said.

On Nov. 20, the government of Ukraine and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced plans to implement heightened protection of energy infrastructure facilities across three tiers of security.

Earlier, UK intelligence suggested that Russia could use newly manufactured long-range air-launched weapons to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the winter.

Russia has probably amassed 800 precision-guided missiles over the past eight months, Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force Command, told Radio NV.

Read also: Naftogaz Ukraine CEO outlines how Ukraine has prepared its energy system for Russian attacks

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine is preparing for the worst winter in its history, as Russia will test the defense of Ukrainian power plants with its missiles.

Since October 2022, Russia has been actively launching mass missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Over several months, Ukraine experienced more than 10 waves of large-scale Russian attacks, when the enemy used dozens of missiles of various types and ranges.

Due to the power shortage in the energy system, the Ministry of Energy had to cut off electricity to consumers, but despite the difficult winter for Ukrainians, Moscow failed to achieve its goal of causing a complete blackout in Ukraine.

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