Some ominous news out of Ukraine this week in the form of an air defence assessment from Ukrainian intelligence official, Major-General Vadym Skibitsky. Skibitsky reported that Russia is rejigging its defence industry to prioritise the production of ballistic missiles. This, he said, would mean a concerted campaign of strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure ahead of the coming winter.

Ukraine has already depleted its stocks of air defence systems. It was getting most of these systems from the US, initially directly in the form of military aid and more recently via its other allies which have been buying them from the US to supply Ukraine. But all reports indicate that the six-month US air campaign in Iran has left the US very short of Patriot and Thaad interceptors, which are most effective against Russia’s ballistic missiles.

Matthew Powell, who researches air power at the University of Portsmouth, writes that Ukraine is already struggling to protect its cities against Russia’s missiles. Now, he believes that with Kyiv’s European allies also labouring to source enough air defence systems for their own security, Ukraine is bracing for what national security experts fear could be the harshest winter of the war so far.

Read more: Russia bets on ballistic missiles to combat the success of Ukraine’s drone warfare

That’s not to say that Ukraine’s success with its strategic use of drones has been anything less than remarkable. Kyiv has of late been targeting Russia’s energy infrastructure including oil refineries and oil storage depots. And in recent weeks it claims to have struck 218 Russian shadow fleet vessels, including 134 in the Sea of Azov and 84 in the........

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