Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yury Ignat has urged local media outlets and bloggers to stop criticising the country’s air-defence system and avoid publishing material that portrays it as completely ineffective.

Ignat said he was frustrated by the volume of reports focusing on failures of Ukrainian air defence during large-scale Russian strikes. According to him, harsh and gloomy headlines create the impression that the Ukrainian Air Force is unable to intercept any incoming missiles at all.

At the same time, Ignat acknowledged that Ukraine’s air-defence network is facing serious difficulties in countering Russian attacks. He identified a shortage of interceptor missiles for US-made Patriot systems as one of the key problems.

A day earlier, Russian forces struck military-industrial facilities and logistics centres in Kiev and Zaporozhye. On August 9, railway infrastructure in the Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk and Sumy regions was also hit, with the facilities described as being used in the interests of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.