Ukraine’s military stops reporting number of Russian ballistic missiles launched and intercepted

Ukraine's military command has ceased including the number of Russian ballistic missiles launched and intercepted in its daily reports, according to Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat. The reason for this change remains undisclosed. However, Ihnat did clarify that the Air Force will continue to inform the public about air threats, the nature of Russian attacks, and the outcomes of combat operations.

The Armed Forces will provide aggregated data on ballistic missiles and other Russian weaponry to media outlets. The shift in reporting occurred on August 9, as reported by the outlet Strana. This decision came in the wake of a shortage of air defense systems necessary to intercept Russian ballistic missiles. On August 5, for instance, Ukraine was unable to shoot down any of the 28 missiles fired by Russia.

In response to the situation, Ihnat cautioned media outlets against exacerbating Ukrainian pessimism with alarming headlines claiming that missiles were not intercepted. Western media have also reported on Ukraine's decision to halt reporting the number of intercepted missiles. A Bloomberg source suggested that this alteration in reporting format was implemented as a security measure.