ISW names likely goal of Russia's Jan 23 missile attack on Ukraine

Russian forces conducted a series of missile strikes against Ukraine on the night of January 22-23 with a new strike package likely meant to penetrate Ukrainian air defenses.

That's according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrinform reports.

"This strike package is notably the first time in recent months that a large Russian missile strike series has not included Shahed-136/131 drones, which Russian forces have often used in an effort to overwhelm Ukrainian air defense systems," ISW analysts said.

According to them, a Russian source posted footage on January 23 purporting to show a Russian missile releasing decoy flares mid-air, and similar footage emerged of a Russian Kh-101 during a Russian strike in late December 2023.

Experts suggest that this strike package may have utilized decoys in place of Shahed drones in order to experiment with the effectiveness of using such decoys and preserving Shaheds for other purposes.

"Ukrainian forces appear to have recently adapted to new Russian strike packages, and Russian forces are likely continuing to experiment with new strike packages with different means of penetrating Ukrainian air defenses and forcing Ukraine to deploy air defense systems to certain locations," the report said.

ISW continues to assess that Russia is likely attempting to acquire more ballistic missiles from abroad, including from Iran and North Korea, because ballistic missiles may be more successful in striking Ukrainian targets in some circumstances.

In the early hours of January 23, Russian troops launched a series of missile strikes across Ukraine. The Ukrainian General Staff said that air defenses had intercepted 22 out of 44 missiles launched by Russian forces.

The strikes killed 18 people and injured more than 130.