The announcement follows several days in which the air force had already suspended the practice without explanation. Ihnat’s statement on Facebook finally shed light on the matter: the military leadership had decided to stop publishing the figures, officially as a security measure. The public would still be informed about threats in real time, the spokesman assured.
The likely background is the difficult situation of Ukraine’s missile defense. Ukraine can still shoot down most Russian drones and cruise missiles, it has barely intercepted any ballistic missiles in recent weeks. These can only be stopped with US Patriot systems due to their high speed and short flight times – but ammunition is lacking.
The interception rate has dropped dramatically: from nearly 40 percent at the beginning of the year to barely more than one percent in August. Of at least 58 missiles launched, Ukraine said it was able to intercept only one. Russia has launched more than 650 ballistic missiles since the start of the year alone.
President Volodymyr Zelensky is seeking resupply from the United States, but the agreed monthly deliveries are insufficient. A domestic defense system named Freyja is being developed with European partners but is not yet operational.
Source: www.zeit.de
