Russia's missile stockpile is close to critical, but new attacks don't rule out - military spox

The Head of the Joint Coordination Press Center of the Southern Defense Forces Natalia Humeniuk said this on the air of the national telethon "United News," Ukrinform reports.

"They are ready to use weapons. The other issue is that they are really trying to save, and this is still a high-precision weapon that they prefer to use against specific targets and specific objects to have the appropriate result. Although we know some cases when they fired at a completely peaceful settlement, in Odesa region - seven "Kalibr" hit a school, destroyed a culture building, and so on. But they had such opportunity to "luxuriate" then, and now they still have a stockpile of missiles close to critical, so they will likely save, but it is possible they may still use them," Humeniuk said.

According to the spokesperson, Russian missile carriers are currently on duty in the Black Sea, but as the storm rages, the occupiers start bringing the ship group to their basing points.

"A 4-5 point storm for the Black Sea is quite powerful. But we shouldn't relax. We remember that they often left their submarines on duty even during the storm," Humeniuk emphasized. 

Commenting on Russia's intentions to launch mass production of Kh-50 missiles, Humeniuk noted that Ukraine needs more powerful air defense systems, as the existing ones are worn-out because they work very actively.

"We will need protection for a period of time. But the conclusion is that the sanctions are working - if they [Russians] revive the production that can do without the sanctioned components. But the sanctions need to be strengthened, including to ensure that this production is also will be stopped," Gumenyuk said.

As reported, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksiy Hromov, said earlier that in June of this year, Russia plans to start mass production of Kh-50 strategic air-launched cruise missiles, which will allow the Kremlin to intensify missile strikes on the territory of our country in the autumn. At the same time, since February 2022, Russia has used up at least 50% of its stockpile of long-range anti-aircraft missiles.