At night, explosions thundered in four regions of Russia. Local authorities report massive UAV attacks.
What is known about explosions in Russia
According to the Ministry of Defence of the aggressor country, 32 drones were allegedly shot down in the skies over Bryansk, Orel, Kursk and Moscow regions at night.
Can the Russian army conduct constant massive missile attacks on Ukraine?
According to analysts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the criminal army of Russia cannot carry out continuous massive attacks with missiles and drones on Ukraine due to the lack of appropriate weapons stocks, but under certain conditions, the Russian occupiers can consistently carry out attacks on Ukraine with the help of Iranian-made Shahed drones.
Analysts cite information from the Deputy Head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), Vadym Skibitsky, that in October 2023, Russia produced 115 long-range precision guided missiles.
The DIU representative stressed that 30 Iskander-M cruise missiles, 12 Iskander-K cruise missiles, 20 Kalibr cruise missiles, 40 Kh-101 cruise missiles, 9 Kh-32 cruise missiles and 4 Kinzhal aerial ballistic missiles were produced.
In November, the Russians had a total of 870 high-precision operational-strategic and strategic missiles in reserve, and this number increased by 285 units between August and November.
Although Ukrainian officials recently claimed that the Russian army had partially replenished its own cruise missile arsenal, Skibitsky's statements about Russia's latest total missile stockpile and monthly production rates indicate that the Russian military is not capable of withstanding repeated large-scale missile attacks like the one on 29 December. In particular, during the large-scale attack, the aggressor fired five Kinzhal missiles at Ukraine, which is the number of systems of this type produced by Russia every month, ISW analysts said in a report.
At the same time, analysts point out that Russia is capable of producing a much larger number of Shahed-136/131 UAVs, but only if the production of these vehicles is established and expanded in the Alabuzka Special Economic Zone in the Russia's Republic of Tatarstan.
The Institute for Science and International Security reported on 13 November that even after a month-long production delay, the Alabuzka-based company plans to produce 1,400 Shahed-136 drones between February and October 2024.
And by September 2025, a total of 6,000 drones of this type are planned to be produced.
As a result, Russian troops are likely to be able to launch more consistent strikes with Shaheds than with missiles, as Ukrainian officials have previously indicated, analysts say.
