On the ground, Putin's army is losing more and more territory, and now large-scale attacks from afar are intended to destroy Ukraine's infrastructure. According to the British secret service, however, there is now a lack of sufficient long-range missiles - which is why nuclear-capable cruise missiles have to be improvised.
Russia is likely removing nuclear warheads from aging cruise missiles and firing the weapons without ammunition, according to British intelligence. The British Ministry of Defense reports, citing intelligence sources. "Regardless of the reasons, this improvisation shows the extent to which Russia's contingent of long-range missiles has been reduced," said the ministry's daily report, which was published on Twitter.
Pictures show the remains of an AS-15 KENT cruise missile, which was developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s to carry nuclear warheads. According to British information, the missing warheads may have been filled with ballast. Due to the kinetic energy and unused fuel, damage would still be caused despite the lack of ammunition, it is said.
However, it is unlikely that Moscow will achieve any serious success with it. Rather, the Kremlin hopes to distract the Ukrainian air defenses. After losing territory on the ground, Russia had recently resorted to shelling Ukrainian cities and infrastructure with long-range missiles. On Wednesday alone, a swarm of around 70 rockets and cruise missiles fell on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, causing serious damage. It was the eighth such wave of attacks since mid-October.
London says it will have a significant impact on Russia's reserves of conventional cruise missiles should the army continue its attacks on this scale. The US Department of Defense also recently assessed the Russian supply of "precision-guided ammunition" such as self-guided rockets or artillery shells as low. In the course of the nine months since the beginning of the war, this has "decreased significantly," they say - also because international trade restrictions mean that microchips, for example, cannot be replaced quickly enough.
The British Ministry of Defense has published daily information on the course of the war since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine at the end of February, citing intelligence information. In doing so, the British government wants to both counter the Russian portrayal and keep allies in line. Moscow accuses London of a targeted disinformation campaign.
