Russia firing missiles over fear for own warplanes’ safety in Ukrainian airspace - UK intel

British defense intelligence believes that by opting for missile strikes on targets in Ukraine from afar, Russia is trying to not expose own warplanes to Ukrainian defense systems.

“Russia continues to rely on “stand-off” munitions launched from within Russian airspace, in order to reduce their aircrafts’ exposure to Ukrainian air defence forces,” the defense ministry reported via Twitter.

“US reporting of up to 60% failure rates of these weapons will compound Russia’s problem of increasingly limited stocks forcing them to revert to less sophisticated missiles or accepting more risk to their aircraft,” the statement adds.

It is noted that Russian air and missile forces continue to strike targets across Ukraine including “many targets in densely populated civilian areas.”

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on February 24, Russian President Putin announced the launch of a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops have been destroying key infrastructure and residential neighborhoods.

Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was announced.