Ukraine's stock of Soviet-era anti-aircraft missiles, which make up 90% of Ukraine's air defenses, is running out.
The Times reported that the Ukrainian Air Force has warned that Ukraine could lose control of its airspace as early as next month, which would jeopardize a planned spring offensive against Russian forces and leave its cities at the mercy of Russian bombardment as happened in Syria.
The newspaper pointed out that the assessment issued by Colonel Yuri Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, comes to reinforce the assessment included in the leaked Pentagon documents, which indicate that ammunition for the air defense systems in Ukraine dating back to the Soviet era may run out by next May.
"The situation is very dangerous indeed. If we lose the battle for control of our airspace, the consequences will be dire. The Russians will crush every one of our cities as they did in Syria, and our nuclear power plants will be vulnerable as well. We will struggle to protect our forces stationed on the front lines," Ihnat was quoted as saying.
At the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia's inability to achieve air superiority during the early stages of the war came as a major surprise to Western analysts, according to the "Times" report.
The Ukrainian air defenses and combat aircraft were able to shoot down several Russian planes in the first weeks of the war, which limited the operations of Russian fighters and helicopters outside the active front lines in the east, and prompted the Russian forces to rely on guided missiles to bomb the sites they target.
The newspaper quoted Ihnat as saying that the situation could change quickly unless Ukraine finds a quick solution to the problem caused by the depletion of its stocks of anti-aircraft missiles of the type "Buk" and "S-300" dating back to the Soviet era, It constitutes 90% of Ukraine's air defenses.
"The problem is where can we get it from? Only the Russians produce it, so our stocks will run out sooner or later," he added.
The newspaper said that an assessment of the Pentagon last February indicated that the Ukrainian air defenses might run out of weapons in early May, which disappointed Ukrainian military officials, as they had been pressing for solutions to this pressing issue since September of the year. the past.
