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After a series of massive rocket attacks, the Ukrainian authorities have given a new assessment of the Russian missile arsenal.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov published an infographic showing that Russia has already used up:
- 87% of the missiles for the Iskander SAM system;
- 26% of the 3M55 Onyx anti-ship missiles;
- 13% of anti-aircraft guided missiles for the S-300 SAM system;
- 63% of Kalibr cruise missiles;
- 50% of X-101 cruise missiles;
- 50% of X-555 cruise missiles;
- 68% of X-22 and X-32 cruise missiles;
- 59% of X-35 anti-ship missiles;
- 27% of hypersonic Kh-47M2 “Kinzhal” missiles.
The large-scale use of missiles throughout Ukraine by the Russian Armed Forces during the autumn campaign began on October 10. Forbes Ukraine estimated that the cost of the missiles fired by the Russian army for that day alone at $400-700 million.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said that Russia had fired more than 4,700 missiles at Ukraine during the entire war. According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal, 50% of the country's energy infrastructure has been damaged, thermal power plants, combined heat and power plants (CHPPs), and hydroelectric power plants (HPPs). As of November 17, about 10 million people remained without electricity, Zelensky reported.
Volodymyr Kudrytsky, head of national electricity transmission operator Ukrenergo, said that the country is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster before winter due to the strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Electricity is also needed to maintain gas supplies, Kudrytsky said. “If consumers spend too much time without power and heating systems are not connected to electricity, it will create great social humanitarian problems.” Kudritsky stressed that Russia wants to provoke a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Ukraine.
Medical institutions are also suffering from the lack of electricity, despite the availability of diesel generators. In particular, Kharkiv hospital No. 4 had less than five days' worth of diesel fuel left to run backup generators, according to a recent report. The head of the energy company DTEK Maksym Tymchenko said on November 19 that residents of Ukraine should think about temporarily going abroad to reduce the load on the energy system. According to Hans Kluge, head of the WHO’s European office, 2 to 3 million Ukrainians may leave their homes at the onset of winter.