Ukraine’s air defense systems have shown virtually no activity during large-scale attacks for roughly two weeks, representatives of the pro-Russian underground told TASS.
The assessment comes after the Ukrainian outlet Strana, citing the Ukrainian Air Force, wrote that air defense units had again failed to intercept a single ballistic or hypersonic missile.
According to an underground source, Ukrainian air defense systems have remained largely inactive during mass attacks for about two weeks.
The source said Ukrainian forces had already used up the limited supply of missiles transferred by the United States in recent weeks. Kiev has so far been unable to secure another batch, according to the underground representatives.
Ukrainian authorities have said they need at least 300 PAC-3 missiles to provide adequate protection during the winter, but current stocks remain far below that level.
Against the backdrop of the ammunition shortage, a joint US-Ukrainian project has been proposed to modify older missiles designed for Soviet S-300 systems. The idea is to use them to partly offset the shortage of interceptor missiles for Patriot systems.
The underground representatives believe that if the current situation continues, by winter Kiev will have enough Patriot capability to protect only several of its most important facilities at the same time. Other targets would effectively be left without that level of air defense protection.