Ukraine’s Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov revealed in a Twitter post on Tuesday how Russia has used up almost 90% of its Iskander missiles since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion.
Four enemies of the russian missile arsenal:
brilliant Ukrainian air defense forces; inept russian missile forces; sanctions;
time.
Let’s demilitarize the terrorist state to live in peace! pic.twitter.com/ndttmXCc22— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) November 22, 2022
Reznikov shared a graphic showing the kinds of missiles used by the Russian military throughout the invasion so far, including how many they started with and how many they have left. At the top of the list is the Iskander, the powerful ground-launched missile that has an operational range of up to 310 miles.
Stocks of the Iskander missile were substantial on February 23, 2022. Russia had 900 Iskander missiles available, and just 119 remain as of November 18. The graphic also showed that a total of 829 missiles were “wasted” by the Russians. Importantly, it also revealed that Russia has only been able to produce an additional 48 Iskander missiles in this time – showing that the Russian military is on track to quickly run out of these missiles entirely unless they can be quickly manufactured, or alternative missiles can be used in the meantime.
With 119 missiles remaining, Russia has just 13% of its original stockpile.
The same graphic shows that Russian forces have also used 123 of its 470 3M-55 Onyx ground-launched missiles, and have not been able to procure any more. Similarly, 1,020 S-300 missiles have been used out of a total of 8,000.
Russia is also running short of its Kalibr missiles, a kind of Russian cruise missile launched from ships. The Russian military started the war with 500 missiles and produced an additional 120 as of November 18, though 391 missiles have been used throughout the conflict. It leaves Russia with just 37% of its original stockpile.
The same graph also shows air-launched missiles running out, and failures to produce sufficient numbers of new missiles to replace those being used. Just 50% of Russia’s Kh-101 and Kh-555 stockpile remains, and only 32% of its Kh-22/32 stockpile remains.
It’s troubling news for Russia, with the war far from over and Russian forces now on the defense in Crimea and retreating from Kherson.
As Ukrainian forces continue their offensive into territories already technically “annexed” by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian military will likely rely heavily on Iranian-manufactured drones and missiles to continue its military efforts through the winter and into the new year.
In his post, Reznikov praised the work of the Ukrainian air defense forces and accused Russian missile forces of being “inept.”
Iskander Missile. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The Ukrainian official said that a combination of sanctions, Ukrainian strength, Russian ineptitude, and the fact that the war has yet to come to an end could ultimately lead to the demilitarization of the Russian “terrorist state.”
Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor.
