Western sanctions stifle Russia’s cruise missile production – British intelligence

The Russian Federation faced problems in producing Kh-101 cruise missiles due to Western sanctions and the need to manufacture weapons quickly.

The British Ministry of Defense reports this.

As pointed out by British analysts, they reached this conclusion by examining satellite images from March 31, which show rocket debris landing in a field in Russia's Saratov region.

As experts note, at first, it was believed that the wreckage belonged to a Ukrainian drone, but a more detailed examination showed that they turned out to be fragments of a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile.

According to the report, it is very likely that this missile was launched in the direction of Ukraine in the morning of the same day but mistakenly fell on the territory of the aggressor country, which indicates a malfunction of the ammunition.

In addition, the Saratov region is a place from which Russian strategic bombers often launch missiles to strike Ukraine, as Engels airfield is located there, where several such aircraft are based.

According to British intelligence, the Kh-101 missile is Russia's main high-precision guided munition with a range of about 4,000 kilometers. The Russian Federation often uses it for attacks on Ukraine, in particular on energy infrastructure facilities.

"The AS-23a KODIAK is Russia's best high-precision munition with a range of about 4,000 km. It was widely used against Ukraine, most recently targeting energy infrastructure nationwide.

The very likely malfunction of such a prestigious missile indicates problems in its production, which were probably influenced by sanctions and the rush to meet the demands of the conflict," the British Ministry of Defense noted.

For reference:

Similar to any weapon from the Russian Federation, it's not without flaws: often, FAB bombs fall on Russian territory, never reaching their intended target in Ukraine.

It is worth noting that earlier, in April 2023, a Russian Su-34 aircraft dropped an aerial bomb on Belgorod.

Also, on January 2, Russian aviation dropped a missile on the village of Petropavlivka in the Voronezh region, which the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed. One of the residents said in the video that the whole street was damaged due to the explosion.

Recently, an aerial bomb also fell on the occupied city of Rubizhne, Luhansk region. Both incidents occurred during Russian sorties.

In addition, a Russian plane "dropped" a FAB-500 aerial bomb in the temporarily captured city of Zymohiria, Luhansk region. Residents were evacuated.

British intelligence explained that the number of cases of Russian aircraft dropping bombs on its territory has increased over the past month: this indicates that the degree of fatigue of the personnel has increased, as well as insufficient training.

British intelligence has already explained why the Russian military periodically drops bombs on their cities.