Russia will not achieve greater effect than last year – military expert on intensity of Russian missile attacks on Ukraine

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV. 

"We will need to analyze certain possible enemy missile strikes compared to last year to understand what it will look like this year. We know that there has been one strike that was not aimed at energy facilities. It was not so long ago when Russia used more than 40 cruise missiles from strategic aviation from the Caspian Sea. Most of them were Kh-101 missiles, but there were also some Shaheds. I draw conclusions from this strike that there is no tendency to increase the number of missiles, at least now compared to last year," he said. 

Musienko does not rule out that this situation will continue. But in order to make generalizations, it will take some time to understand how the enemy has prepared and how many missiles it is using compared to last year.

"Our air defense capabilities are indeed being strengthened, although I must say that they are still not enough. We need additional systems to cover certain missile flight zones. We are working on this. At the previous meeting in the Ramstein format, which took place recently, one of the main points was devoted to air defense systems for Ukraine. We need not only additional systems, but also missiles, and maintenance of what has been delivered. My forecasts as of now are that the enemy is unlikely to achieve a greater effect with missile attacks than it did last year," Musienko summarized.

• Last year, Russia attacked critical infrastructure. The purpose of the attacks was to deprive Ukrainians of permanent access to water, heating and light.

• In August 2023, the Ministry of Energy reported that planned repairs at Ukraine's energy facilities were on schedule, but the worst situation with preparations for the new heating season was observed in the regions bordering Russia and in the frontline areas.

• On August 13, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine was forming a multi-level defense of energy facilities.

• As of August 31, 24 thermal generation units with a capacity of over 4,300MW have been repaired or are undergoing repair in Ukraine. This is more than 60% of the total.

• Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, chairman of the board of Ukrenergo, said that in preparing for the new heating season and possible new attacks on energy infrastructure, Ukraine is relying not only on air defense systems.  

• As of September 19, the volume of natural gas in Ukraine's underground gas storage facilities reached 14.7 billion cubic meters: the planned amount of natural gas was pumped in ahead of schedule.

• Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Energy Research Center, said that Kyiv and Odesa are the cities with the highest risks during the heating season. Their regions consume a lot of energy and do not have sufficient domestic production.  

• On September 20, DTEK predicted the situation with electricity in winter and named the factors of influence.