Foreign Media: Russia Adjusts Airstrike Strategy Against Ukraine

Reference News Network reported on August 7 According to a report from the German news television channel website on August 4, Russia has changed its airstrike strategy. In July, the number of missiles launched by Russia at Ukraine more than doubled compared to the previous month. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the Russian military used a total of 376 missiles in July, continuing nighttime bombings of Ukrainian cities. In June, the Ukrainian air defense forces detected only 180 Russian missiles, and in May, there were 211.

It is noteworthy that Russia has not only increased the use of these harder-to-intercept weapons but has also launched attacks more frequently. Since July, cities in Ukraine, including Kyiv, have been subjected to missile strikes almost every night.

Ukrainian air defense data indicates a shift in Russian air combat strategy: while the number of missiles used has increased, the number of attack drones used against Ukraine in July has significantly decreased. It is reported that Russia used a total of 5,749 drones for attacks in June, which dropped to 4,956 in July.

According to media reports, there is a shortage of high-performance air defense systems in Ukraine (such as the U.S. Patriot air defense system).

Is Russia taking advantage of this? Regardless, from Ukraine's perspective, Russia's new attack model indeed poses significant problems: weapons like the Iskander-M ballistic missile can reach their targets at six times the speed of sound. These warheads, weighing 700 kilograms, can cause devastating damage upon impact, and Ukraine's air defense systems are nearly incapable of intercepting them.

Military experts have also confirmed this. Austrian military expert Colonel Markus Reisner believes that the decrease in the number of drone attacks may also be related to Russia's suspected shift towards producing the Geranium jet drone.

Colonel Reisner pointed out that the reasons for the increase in Russian missile attacks can only be speculated at this time. However, it is very likely a deliberate escalation to respond to Ukraine's increasingly frequent strikes deep into Russian territory. Russia likely exploited Ukraine's weakness due to the lack of Patriot missiles when launching its attacks.

On nights when Russia launches a large number of missiles at Ukraine, the issue of Ukraine's shortage of interceptors becomes particularly prominent. For example, on August 1, out of a total of 27 ballistic missiles launched by Russia, the Ukrainian Air Force successfully intercepted only 1.

For months, Kyiv has been requesting its partners to provide more Patriot missiles to better intercept Russian missiles.

During the NATO summit in Ankara in July, U.S. President Trump promised in front of reporters to grant Ukraine permission to produce Patriot missiles. However, Trump has since retreated on this issue. Whether and when Ukraine will be able to produce Patriot missiles on its own remains uncertain.

Reisner stated that even if the U.S. is willing, it is currently very difficult to provide Ukraine with Patriot missiles because the U.S. inventory is at an extremely low level. (Translated by Jiao Yu)