Ukraine Pinpoints Days Russia Could Launch Major Missile Strikes

Ukraine has warned that Russia could be looking to launch missile strikes during the G20 summit of the world's biggest economies.

While Ukraine was celebrating the withdrawal by Russian troops from the southern city of Kherson, Ukrainian Air Forces Command spokesperson Yuriy Ignat raised the possibility of what Vladimir Putin might do when the summit is held on November 15 and 16 in Bali.

Ignat told national television that, during the G20 summit, Moscow might be looking to stage "some kind of provocation somewhere."

Ukrainian internal-affairs adviser Anton Gerashchenko tweeted Ignat's remarks, adding, "we know that after its defeats, Russia retaliates against the civilian population. And love big dates and events."

The G20 summit will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Indonesian province. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin was unable to attend the event due to other commitments.

Ignat also said, according to a translation on Ukrainian news outlet TSN, that Russia has significantly exhausted its reserves of weapons after they "released an incredible number of missiles " in Ukraine.

Ignat added that Russia "cannot afford to fire the same volleys as often as they did on October 10." This referred to the start of a Russian campaign of renewed cruise-missile and drone strikes over several days that targeted civilian and critical energy infrastructure.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's defense ministry for comment.

Although Moscow is running low on stocks, Iran is supplying Russia with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) such as the Shahed-136, or the "kamikaze" drone, as well as ballistic missiles such as the Fateh-110 and the Zolfaghar missile—a variant of the Fateh-110 family.

Iran said this week that it had developed its first domestic hypersonic ballistic missile, which air defenses will not be able to thwart "for decades."

Marina Miron, a research fellow from the Defense Studies Department at King's College London, recently told Newsweek that this could have an impact on the war in Ukraine.

"It's a very interesting point in time for developing new missiles," Miron said. "There might be cooperation where Russia will say [to Iran], 'we have the knowhow, and you have the capability to manufacture.'

"If Russia can get those missiles manufactured for much cheaper—it doesn't have that capability itself right now—that raises many more concerns because of the ongoing war in Ukraine," Miron added.

War sanctions imposed on Russia have had an impact on its access to components needed to make new weapons. Among key entities feeling the impact of these measures is the Tactical Missiles Corporation, headquartered in Korolyov, Moscow Oblast, which produces missiles for the Russian forces in Ukraine.