The British Ministry of Defence has reported in its daily update that aircraft of the Russian Long-Range Air Forces (LRA) have not conducted attacks against Ukraine for 21 days.
The report, published on the platform X, formerly Twitter, states, “While such interruptions are not uncommon, the last comparable interruption occurred between March 9 and April 28, 2023, a period of 51 days.” At that time, it was likely that the LRA had almost exhausted its stocks of efficient AS-23 missile ammunition following the winter offensive against Ukrainian infrastructure.
Attacks on Danube Ports Require Higher Precision
In the current situation, it is likely that the Russian Air Force wants to preserve missile stocks and is using the pause to replenish existing stocks in anticipation of further heavy attacks on Ukraine in the winter. The report from the British Ministry of Defence continues, “Recently, Russia has focused its air attacks on facilities related to grain in the south of Ukraine, using SHAHED one-way aerial vehicles (OWA UAVs).” This includes attacks on Ukrainian Danube ports, which require a high level of precision due to their proximity to the Romanian border. According to the British, it is likely that Russia is using Shahed-OWA drones for this purpose as they have higher accuracy than other types of missiles.
Image: Kremlin.ru, Vladimir Putin in Ryazan Oblast (2022-10-20) 06, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image size modified)
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