British intelligence assesses change of tactics in Russian missile strikes on Ukraine

The Russian Federation has begun to use unarmed reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) more often during its missile attacks deep into Ukraine.

Source: an intelligence review by the UK Ministry of Defence, as European Pravda reports.

It is noted that frequent long-range missile strikes deep into the territory of Ukraine are probably primarily aimed at weakening Ukraine's air defense system.

"Improving on previous waves of deep strikes, Russia has begun to more frequently engage unarmed reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles in operations," the review says.

These include the Russian-made SuperCam UAVs, which are relatively cheap and have a sufficient range to fly over cruise missile targets.

"Russia is likely to have employed this tactic in an effort to obtain a more timely assessment of combat losses and improve the targeting cycle," the UK Defence Intelligence notes.

According to the intelligence community, the slow and inefficient targeting process of the Russian military was the main drawback of their actions in Ukraine. "However, the slow reconnaissance UAVs are very vulnerable to Ukrainian air defense," the review notes.

As a reminder, the UK Ministry of Defence has confirmed the loss of several Kinzhal missiles by Russia in Ukraine, noting that these events came as an embarrassment and surprise to Russia, which presented the missiles as "invincible."

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