What does it mean that Russia has stepped up its attacks against Ukraine: How many missiles, drones and guided bombs has the Kremlin used in just one month – Zelensky

While Kiev is still waiting for new US military aid to arrive, Russia has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine, using hundreds of missiles and drones and thousands of guided bombs, according to President Zelensky.

Thus, Russia used more than 300 missiles, about 300 Shahed drones and more than 3,200 guided bombs in the April attacks on Ukraine alone, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, Reuters reports.

“Only force can stop this terror – the force of our people, the force of world unity, the force of pressure on Russia, the force of the air defense systems provided to Ukraine, the force of our soldiers holding the front line,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

However, March seems to have been even blacker for the Ukrainians, since according to the same Zelensky, the Kremlin forces launched more than 3,000 guided aerial bombs, 600 drones and 400 missiles on Ukraine this month.

Russia has increased its use of air-launched guided bombs in front-line areas in recent months. They are launched from warplanes inside Russian-controlled territory and glide towards targets at high speed.

For Moscow, they have become an effective way to drop large amounts of explosives on Ukrainian trenches and buildings near the front, an approach that favors explosive power over accuracy.

How many missiles have the Russians launched in two years of war

This in the context in which, according to a February information from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the Kremlin has launched more than 8,000 missiles and 4,600 drones since the beginning of the war in 2022.

This spring, Russia stepped up its strikes on Ukraine’s civilian and energy infrastructure as Kiev waited for additional aid from its allies and its air defenses were stretched thin.

Russian attacks affected half of Ukraine’s energy system, Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said in an interview published Wednesday in Foreign Policy, according to The Kyiv Independent.

“I’ll venture to say that if another country suffered this destruction of its energy system, it would look much, much worse than Ukraine. We are resisting because we have learned a lot,” Kuleba told Foreign Policy.

“Half of our energy system is broken and we still have to lead the country, lead the war effort and rally the support of the world,” Kuleba said.

How many missiles Russia had in stock at the end of April, according to Ukraine

According to the estimates of the military intelligence services of Ukraine, at the end of April 2024, the Russian army had at its disposal about 40 units of 3M22 Zircon hypersonic missiles. The production rate for these missiles is up to ten units per month, reports Ukrainska Pravda.

Russia also had 400 units of Oniks cruise missiles, as well as 270 Kalibr 3M-14 cruise missiles. The production rate is 30-40 units per month for Kalibr and 10 for Oniks.

At the end of April, the Russian army still had 45 Kh-69 air-to-surface missiles, in the context of which 1-3 units are produced per month.

In early April, Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate reported that Russia had about 950 operational-tactical and strategic missiles with a range of more than 350 kilometers and could be capable of several combined attacks until it has need a break to accumulate resources.

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