Intensified Russian airstrikes ‘stretching Ukraine’s air defence resources’

A crater from an explosion next to a building destroyed after a Russian missile attack in Novomoskovsk, near Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Russia’s recent escalation of missile and drone attacks is stretching Ukraine’s air defence resources, a Ukrainian air force official said on Tuesday, leaving the country vulnerable in the 22-month war unless it can secure further weapons supplies.

“Intense Russian air attacks force us to use a corresponding amount of air defence means,” air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat told national television. “That’s why we need more of them, as Russia keeps increasing its (air) attack capabilities.”