According to the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), Russia still has 585 missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometres. Of these, about 75 are hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, GUR representative Vadym Skibitskyy has told RBC-Ukraine.
Russia also has another 150 Kh-22 missiles that it wants to improve. According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia can upgrade no more than 10 of these missiles every month.
The modified missiles are called Kh-32.
"As for the Iskander ballistic and cruise missiles, according to our data, there are about 270 of them now. The Kalibr stockpile is about 140 missiles. They have fewer Kh-101s, while the total number of Kh-101s, Kh-555s and Kh-55s with warheads, according to our estimates, is about 100 missiles," he said.
According to him, Russia has reduced the frequency of their use due to the critical limit being reached and the intention to stockpile precision-guided Kh-101 missiles.
Skibitskyy said that the Russians planned to produce about 40 Kh-101 missiles per month, but the plan is not being fulfilled. He said this was due to a shortage of foreign components. The second factor is that Russia is trying to accumulate stocks of these missiles, which are considered more accurate and effective.
According to intelligence, in August, Russia planned to produce six Kinzhals, 30 Iskanders-M, 12 Iskanders-K, 20 Kalibrs, and about 40 Kh-101. However, the actual production of certain types of these missiles lags behind the plans.
Due to the inability to produce the desired number of missiles, Russia has changed its tactics: it combines missiles of different classes, selects targets more carefully, carefully determines routes to bypass Ukraine's air defence system, and makes decisions on strikes faster.
If the Russians receive information about the need to urgently hit a certain target in Ukraine, they use more accurate and faster missiles, as was the case, for example, during the recent attack on Chernihiv, when Russia used an Iskander-K cruise missile.
"Iskander missile brigades are located along the entire border - in Rostov, Kursk and Belgorod regions, as well as in our occupied territories, including Crimea. Accordingly, our regions and districts that are closer to the front line and the Ukrainian-Russian border are under threat, as the time it takes for these missiles to reach their target is a matter of minutes. It is extremely difficult to respond quickly to their use," Skibitskyy explained.
The change in missile tactics may be related to Russia's intention to accumulate weapons before the autumn-winter period in order to attack Ukraine's energy system again.
The Energy Ministry predicts that Ukraine will have a winter no less difficult than the previous one. Ukraine's energy facilities remain priority targets for Russian missile strikes.