Russia has highly likely adopted a new tactic in an attempt to obtain more timely battle damage assessment and improve its targeting cycle during the missile attacks on Ukraine, UK Intelligence reported in its daily update on the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Since early May 2023, Russia has restarted frequent long-range missile strikes deep into Ukraine. Russian missile attacks on Ukraine are likely primarily aimed at degrading Ukraine's air defenses, according to UK Intelligence.
Innovating on earlier waves of deep missile strikes, Russia has started more frequently integrating unarmed, surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into its operations, according to UK Intelligence. The Russian military’s slow and inefficient targeting process has been a significant weakness in its performance in Ukraine, according to UK Intelligence.
However, the extensive use of UAVs during the targeting process is not a significant improvement because Russian slow surveillance UAVs are highly vulnerable to Ukrainian air defenses, UK Intelligence reported.
Related:
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- Russia spent USD 120 mn on night attack fully repelled by Ukraine's air defense - journalists
- Kremlin reportedly spent USD 38.7 billion in 2023 likely to fund its war effort - ISW
- Russia's air defense proves ineffective against Ukrainian drone attacks - UK Intel
