Ignat: Some air defense systems are sometimes empty before enemy attacks

According to Ukrinform, this was stated in an interview with RBC-Ukraine by Colonel Yuriy Ignat, Head of Communications Department for the Ukrainian Air Force Command.

“It has been stated many times, and the President of Ukraine has repeatedly drawn partners’ attention to the fact that sometimes some air defense systems stand empty, while the next attack still has to be repelled,” he said.

According to Ignat, another problem for air defense is the excessive number of missiles and drones that Russia is using to strike Ukraine.

The enemy simultaneously, intensively, and with a large number of weapons attacks one city or region. Sometimes our anti-aircraft missile systems, such as NASAMS or IRIS-T, simply do not have time to reload during such powerful attacks, Ignat said.

He cited the example of a recent attack in which the enemy used 18 ballistic missiles across the country. However, sometimes all ballistic missiles during an attack fly only toward the capital, targeting critical infrastructure.

"When they attack the Kyiv region and Kyiv itself, we often see dozens of missiles of various types and up to five hundred drones. Can you imagine how difficult it is to cover even a well-protected city against such a number of enemy aerial attack assets? No matter what, something still gets through. Even if 80 percent of targets are shot down, the remaining 20 percent cause enormous damage. This can be a hit on a CHP plant, another critical infrastructure facility, or an enterprise," he said.

As reported by Ukrinform, on the night of January 20, the Russian army attacked Ukraine with a Zircon anti-ship missile, 18 Iskander-M/S-300 ballistic missiles, 15 Kh-101 cruise missiles, and 339 drones of various types.

Photo: US Army