Russian forces continue to experiment and adapt their missile and drone strike packages across Ukraine in an attempt to penetrate Ukrainian air defenses.
Russia's army is unsuccessfully trying to break through the Ukrainian air defence
ISW notes with a reference to a Russian blogger that Russian forces have recently struck Ukraine using various types of missiles, including hypersonic Kh-47 "Kinzhal" ballistic missiles.
The blogger also claims that Russian forces launched unspecified aerial decoys and Shahed drones to bypass Ukrainian air defense systems so that Russian forces could launch successful missile strikes.
At the same time, ISW experts observed Russian forces experimenting with various combinations of drone and missile strikes in an attempt to penetrate Ukrainian air defence systems as Ukrainian forces adapted to Russian strike patterns.
Russia may be increasing its efforts to obtain ballistic missiles from abroad, because under some circumstances, this type of missile may be more successful in hitting targets in Ukraine, the analysis says.
On January 14, the spokesman of the Air Force of Ukraine, Colonel Yuriy Ignat, said that the sanctions would probably worsen the quality of Russian missiles. This could further hamper Russia's ability to launch a successful series of strikes against Ukraine.
Large-scale shelling of Ukraine on January 13
On January 13, the Russian invaders massively attacked Ukraine with missiles of various types. The aggressor troops fired cruise missiles from Tu-95MS aircraft, Kh-22/32 anti-ship missiles from Tu-22M3 bombers and aeroballistic "Kinzhals" from MiG-31K fighters.
A total of 40 air attack vehicles were recorded. Air defence forces shot down eight missiles, but more than 20 missiles did not reach their targets.
In particular, out of six aeroballistic "Kizhals" launched over Ukraine, three did not reach their target. The hits were recorded in the Dnipro, Poltava and Sumy regions, and missile fragments fell in Chernihiv.
Earlier, the ISW noted that Ukrainian air defence effectively adapts to the strikes of the Russian Federation.
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