Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War believe the Russians are pursuing the goal of undermining Ukrainian air defenses.
During the massive missile strike on January 23, Russian troops likely aimed to destroy Ukraine’s air defenses. This was stated by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
“On January 23, Russian troops carried out a series of missile attacks on Ukraine, most likely aimed at destroying Ukrainian air defenses. This massive strike was the first in recent months that not involving Russian-made Shahed-136/131 drones. often used by troops to penetrate Ukrainian air defense systems,” the report said.
ISW noted that a Russian source published a video on January 23 purporting to show a Russian missile releasing decoys, and that similar footage also appeared of a Russian X-101 during a strike of Russia in late December 2023.
Analysts suggest that during this mass strike, decoys were used instead of Shaheds to experiment with their effectiveness, and the Shahed-136/131 remained for other purposes.
“Ukrainian forces seem to have recently adapted to a new series of Russian strikes, and it is likely that Russian forces will continue to experiment with new strike systems with different methods of penetrating defenses in the Ukrainian air and forcing Ukraine to deploy air defense systems in some locations,” the experts noted.
Let’s recall that on January 23, Russian troops launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine, using cruise, ballistic, aviation and anti-aircraft guided missiles. Air defense forces destroyed 21 enemy missiles out of 41.
Source: korrespondent
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