Russia 'Struggling to Counter Air Threats' on Its Own Territory: U.K.

Russia is finding it difficult to combat air threats on its own land as it continues its war with Ukraine, according to the latest British intelligence update.

"Russia has long given a very high priority to maintaining advanced ground based air defences, but it is increasingly clear that it is struggling to counter air threats deep inside Russia," the U.K. Ministry of Defence said Thursday in an intelligence briefing on Twitter.

The ministry referenced the drone attack on Russia's Engels Air Base on Monday, which Russian authorities said left three servicemen dead, blaming Ukraine for the strike.

"One challenge for Russia is probably the exceptional demand on its fleet of modern, medium-range air defence systems, such as SA-22 Pantsir, which would typically be expected to take a major role in countering UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles]," the ministry said.

The ministry continued: "As well as providing point defence for strategic sites such as Engels, these systems are currently required in large number to protect field headquarters near the front line in Ukraine."

The Monday attack on the Engels Air Base was the second one in three weeks. The base, over 350 miles from the nearest Ukrainian-controlled territory, is one of the "main operating bases of Russia's strategic bomber fleet."

Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, recently hinted at Kyiv's involvement in the latest attack.

Ignat recently told Ukrainian media outlet Gazeta.ua that "these are the consequences of what Russia is doing on our land. If the Russians thought that the war would not affect them deep in the rear, then they were wrong. Such things are happening more and more often, and we hope that it will only benefit Ukraine."

Russia launched a barrage of missiles in Ukraine earlier on Thursday, targeting a number of cities, including Kyiv, Lviv, which is near the Poland border, and the southwestern city of Odesa.

The Ukrainian military said it shot down 54 missiles out of 69 fired by Russia, according to Reuters. Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted that "the downing of 54 missiles saved the lives of dozens of people & protected key parts of our economic infrastructure."

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said three people were injured in the strikes. In addition, nearly half of the population in Kyiv experienced a power outage. "Forty percent of the capital's consumers are without electricity after the Russian attack," he added.

"Senseless barbarism. These are the only words that come to mind seeing Russia launch another missile barrage at peaceful Ukrainian cities ahead of New Year," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted in reaction to the Russian missile strikes. "There can be no 'neutrality' in the face of such mass war crimes. Pretending to be 'neutral' equals taking Russia's side."

Though some Western countries' intelligence reportedly indicated that Russia is struggling to fight in Ukraine with a possible decrease in its missile count, Russia's defense ministry said on Thursday that it will "never" run out of Kalibr missiles.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian foreign affairs ministry for comment.