Russia seeks to deplete Ukraine’s Patriot missile stocks - media

Experts shared their opinions in an interview with Business Insider, Ukrinform reports.

Russia has chosen a particularly good timing, since the U.S. Congress, which is supposed to approve further aid, could limit the provision of Patriot missiles to Ukraine. Without the protection provided by these systems, Russia will be able to inflict much more damage on Ukraine without fear that its strikes will fail, experts say.

Jade McGlynn, a researcher of Russian politics and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that depleting Ukraine’s stocks of Patriot and other surface-to-air missiles is an obvious part of Russia's strategy.

The idea was also expressed by Yaroslav Trofimov, The Wall Street Journal's chief correspondent on foreign relations. He said that Russia is seeking to destroy Ukraine's stockpile of Patriot missiles in the hope that it can then destroy the batteries that launch them. They will be much more difficult to replace.

Ukraine received five Patriot batteries from the USA, Germany, and the Netherlands. They can track 100 targets at a distance of 90 km and are credited with destroying multiple Russian missiles and aircraft.

Republicans in Senate have blocked President Joe Biden's requests for supplemental funding, saying they would approve it only if their demands for funding for the U.S. southern border were met first.

McGlynn believes the developments in Congress explain why Russia waited until late December to launch large-scale strikes.

Keir Giles, an analyst at the Chatham House Center, believes Russia is likely conducting a missile campaign on a certain schedule, being aware that the volume of international supplies will be limited, regardless of whether the American flow wanes or not.

However, he said, the lack of guaranteed support from the U.S. makes the situation much more difficult for Ukraine, forcing it to make tough decisions on when to utilize its defenses.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on January 2, Russian invaders launched a barrage of drones and missiles of various types at Ukraine.

Later, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi said Ukraine needs more Patriot air defense systems to effectively repel Russian strikes.