Latest British Intelligence update on Ukraine as of Jan. 17

Latest British Intelligence update on Ukraine as of Jan. 17

British Intelligence Update as of Jan 17

On 14 January 2023, Russia resumed long-range missile strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, the first in approximately 15 days, launching tens of missiles.

As with the previous eight waves of strikes since 11 October 2022, Russia primarily targeted the Ukrainian electricity grid.

An AS-4 KITCHEN large anti-ship missile, launched from a Tu-22M3 BACKFIRE medium bomber, highly likely struck a block of flats in Dnipro city which resulted in the death of at least 40 people.

Russia falsely implied a Ukrainian air defence missile was responsible. KITCHEN is notoriously inaccurate when used against ground targets as its radar guidance system is poor at differentiating targets in urban areas.

Similar weapons have been responsible for other incidents of civilian mass-casualties, including the Kremenchuk shopping centre strike of 27 June 2022.

While some missiles such as KITCHEN are unsuitable for precision strike, evidence from the Ukraine war suggests that dysfunction of Russia’s long-range strike capability is more profound.

It highly likely struggles to dynamically identify targets, and to access rapid and accurate battle damage assessment.