Number of Russian Kalibr cruise missile launch vessels in Black Sea close to record
“Today, we estimate the total salvo of missiles on board all six carriers, which are currently on combat duty, as up to 44 missiles,” Humeniuk said.
“We’re saying that the missile threat remains acute. That’s because (with the launch vessels) being at sea in combat positions, armed and such a number — all this may indicate the continuation of missile attacks.”
Humeniuk said the highest number of Russian Kalibr cruise missiles deployed in the Black Sea recorded so far during the full-scale war was 48.
Russia launched its last mass attack on Jan. 14. Attacks tend to come every 10 days to two weeks, though their exact schedule is unpredictable, as is the mix of weapons used.
Read also: Missiles used in mass attack on Jan. 14 launched from Belarus, says aviation expert
In recent attacks, Russia has used a mix of cruise missiles and Iranian Shahed flying bomb drones. However, on Jan. 14 the Russian military attacked Kyiv and its surrounding oblast with ballistic missiles, which Ukraine’s air force says are difficult to detect and intercept.
Russia reportedly used missiles from S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft systems, adapted to attack ground targets, in the first attack on Kyiv, early on Jan. 14. Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said a missile had struck a civilian infrastructure object in the city’s Dniprovsky district, on the left bank of the Dnipro River.
Parts of missiles, apparently shot down, were found in the south of the city, in the grounds of a Ukrainian cultural museum.
Later, in the afternoon on the same day, Russia launched cruise missiles at the Ukrainian capital, which were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.
Read also: Ukraine unable to shoot down Kh-22 missiles, says Air Force
During the afternoon attack on Jan. 14, Russia fired a Kh-22 anti-ship missile at the southern Ukrainian city of Dnipro. The missile, which carries a one-ton high explosive warhead, struck a residential building in the city, completely demolishing a nine-story section of the building.
Forty people are known to have been killed in the strike on the building, and 79 injured, 10 of whom are in a serious condition in hospital. Another 25 residents of the building are still listed as missing.
Ukraine’s SBU security service says it has identified several people in the Russian strategic bomber unit responsible for the launching of the missile, which is highly inaccurate, at Dnipro, and has opened war crimes cases against them.
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