Ukraine must be ready for escalation of Russian strikes this fall – Air Force spox

That’s according to Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesman for the Air Force, who spoke on the air of the national telethon, answering the question of whether the Ukrainians should expect more intensive Russian missile strikes starting in September.

"Regarding the upcoming autumn period, indeed, an escalation is possible, but at the same time we remember that Russia used up last autumn and winter the huge arsenal of missiles that it had been accumulating for quite a long time. Therefore, of course, we should expect an escalation but it is possible that there’ll be fewer of such missile strikes, such barrages as we saw back then. But at the same time, we need more weapons because we have also exhausted them, too, as a serious resource has been used up. Therefore, we expect new systems and new, additional missiles to come from our allies. I mean anti-aircraft guided missiles," said the Air Force spokesman.

Ihnat also noted that Russia will compensate for the lack of missiles by increasing the number of drone strikes.

"There are fewer missiles and more drones. You see, drones are not missiles, they are a much cheaper type of munitions, for which they are setting up production on their territory, or so they say. We are talking about Shaheds and other UAVs. That is, Russia is building up this type of ammunition. UAVs are not an easy target," the spokesperson noted, adding that Ukraine needs to build countermeasures against them.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on August 4, Yuriy Ihnat said that due to the lack of missiles, Russia will likely be targeting critical infrastructure with one-way attack drones.