On the night of 23 January, Russian troops carried out another series of missile attacks on Ukraine, which was aimed at breaking through Ukrainian air defences, Ukrainform reports, citing the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
"This strike package is notably the first time in recent months that a large Russian missile strike series has not included Shahed-136/131 drones, which Russian forces have often used in an effort to overwhelm Ukrainian air defence systems," analysts say.
They note that a Russian source posted footage on January 23 purporting to show a Russian missile releasing decoy flares mid-air, and similar footage emerged of a Russian Kh-101 during a Russian strike in late December 2023.
Experts suggest that this strike package may have utilised decoys in place of Shahed drones in order to experiment with the effectiveness of using such decoys and preserving Shaheds for other purposes.
"Ukrainian forces appear to have recently adapted to new Russian strike packages, and Russian forces are likely continuing to experiment with new strike packages with different means of penetrating Ukrainian air defences and forcing Ukraine to deploy air defence systems to certain locations," the report says.
ISW reports that Russia is likely attempting to acquire more ballistic missiles from abroad, including from Iran and North Korea, because ballistic missiles may be more successful in striking Ukrainian targets in some circumstances.
On the morning of 23 January, Russia launched another massive missile attack on Ukraine. Air defence forces shot down 21 of the 41 missiles.