A Ukrainian general said that his country’s air defense forces are capable of 50 to 70 percent of Russian missiles were shot down. General Mykola Zhirnov, head of the Kyiv military administration, was asked by a correspondent of the Ukrainian publication ArmyInform whether the capital was “reliably protected by anti-aircraft defense or would no longer be threatened by missile attacks”.
Zhirnov responded that “as long as the enemy has missile and air weapons, there will still be a threat of air and missile strikes.” But the general added that between 50 and 70 percent of Russian missiles are downed by planes and anti-aircraft missile units.
“But, unfortunately, today we cannot guarantee the effectiveness of air defense operations at 100%, and this is due to objective reasons – insufficient means of reconnaissance, and Soviet anti-aircraft missile systems are not as efficient and reliable as the air defense equipment of NATO partner countries,” he added.
In an incident last month, the Ukrainian Air Force said it had shot down seven Russian missiles. Ukraine claimed that Moscow fired them from somewhere near the Caspian Sea, and that anti-aircraft missile forces and combat aircraft managed to eliminate seven out of eight of them.
On Friday, Ukraine said it had shot down a Russian reconnaissance drone called the Kartograph. Ukrainian officials also said the drone was used to control or regulate artillery fire or missile strikes.
Late last month, the Ukrainian military said it had killed nearly 160 Russian soldiers after launching missile and artillery strikes as part of its counterattack in southern Ukraine.