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| Revealed, Ukraine Runs Out of Important Weapons to Fight Russia |
Kiev - Ukraine is running out of supplies of ammunition and spare parts for Soviet-era S-300 and Buk air defense systems used to counter Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure. The Financial Times reported this on Tuesday (13/12/2022), citing a senior Ukrainian military official.
The chief spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Colonel Yury Ignat, told the outlet that his air defense unit typically fires two S-300 or Buk missiles at each Russian projectile to increase the chances of interception. However, this poses certain challenges, as Ukraine is unlikely to procure additional missiles for this system, which are produced in Russia.
“Meanwhile, finding available stock elsewhere has proved difficult. While Kiev is receiving modern air defense systems from its Western backers, Ukraine will need "hundreds" of such weapons to replace its aging arsenal. “We had no other choice but to turn to this type of weapon because the Soviet weapons of the 1970s and 1980s are both… obsolete and the enemy consumes them every day,” said Ignat.
Russian forces began targeting Ukraine's energy facilities in early October after accusing Kiev of attacking its critical infrastructure, including the strategic Crimea Bridge. The latest wave of Russian missile attacks occurred on December 5 after Ukrainian drones targeted Russian airfields in the Saratov and Ryazan Regions, killing three soldiers and wounding four others.
Ukraine has repeatedly asked Western countries to supply it with air defense capabilities. On Monday, Group Seven (G7), which includes the most prominent Western backers in Kiev, signaled it plans to put "immediate focus on providing Ukraine with air defense systems." On Sunday, however, the European Union's head of foreign policy, Josep Borrell, said the bloc's security assistance to Kiev had depleted its stockpile.
The US appears to be experiencing the same problem, with CNN reporting last month that the Department of Defense was running out of several advanced weapons systems and ammunition to provide to Kiev. Moscow has repeatedly warned the West that arms shipments to Ukraine will only prolong the conflict. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the West was de-facto turning Ukraine into a "colony" and using Ukraine "as cannon fodder" and a battering ram against Russia while supplying arms to Kiev.