Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told Politico this week that Russia has fewer than 50 hypersonic missiles in its arsenal, having used half of its stock in the ongoing invasion.
"According to our information, Russians have already spent almost half ... of their weaponry arsenal," Shmyhal said on Monday.
He added that Russia has "four dozen" hypersonic missiles left.
"These are the ones that have precision and accuracy due to the microchips that they have," Shmyhal said. "But because of sanctions imposed on Russia, the deliveries of this high-tech microchip equipment ... have stopped and they have no way of replenishing these stocks."
Diederik Cops, a researcher at the Flemish Peace Institute, told Politico that Russia is attempting to preserve its high-tech equipment using older and outdated supplies.
"More and more 'dumb' rockets are being found in Ukraine, demonstrating how Russia is battling supply chain shortages," he said.
Cops noted that despite sanctions targeting Russia, the country could manage to secure the technology it needs.
"Once chips have left the factory it's very hard to know for sure where they end up," he said.
"Countries like North Korea and Iran have built up years of expertise to circumvent sanctions. Russia will surely have prepared itself to cope with this in past months," Cops added. "The Russians can also rely on historic expertise to set up such channels: It was routine during the Cold War. And it has long borders with neighboring countries and a large network of allied states to work with."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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