Western military analysts say the strikes came at a staggering cost and are unlikely to change the course of a war going badly for Moscow.
A residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, October 9 2022. Picture: REUTERS
But Western military analysts say the strikes came at a staggering cost, depleted a dwindling supply of long-range missiles, hit no major military targets and are unlikely to change the course of a war going badly for Moscow. Ramzan Kadyrov, the Putin loyalist leader of Russia’s Chechnya region who had lately called for military commanders to be sacked, said he was now 100% behind the strategy.
Western military analysts have no firm figures for how many missiles Russia has left, but for months have pointed to indicators suggesting the supply is limited. Ukraine now relies on Soviet-era air defence systems. Washington promised several months ago to send its sophisticated NASAMS system and said on Tuesday it was speeding up the shipment after saying in late September that delivery was still about two months away.
Air defences, such as the US Patriot missile system, are designed mainly to protect specific, high-priority targets. Others can provide broader protection but over a comparatively small area, such as Israel’s vaunted “Iron Dome” system which protects a country around one-twentieth the size of Ukraine.
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