Russia says ammunition production for air-defence systems has doubled

Russia has doubled the production of missiles for its air-defence systems, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.
He made his comments during an inspection of defence factories in the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals, according to his ministry.
The production of launchers for the S-300 and Buk air-defence systems had also been increased. They should be put into service by 2024. The minister did not provide exact production figures.
The Russian air-defence system has recently shown weaknesses in its use against approaching Ukrainian drones. Drone strikes damaged a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Baltic Sea and an oil refinery on the Black Sea.
According to the Interfax news agency, Shoigu also inspected the production of two weapons systems against which Ukraine can hardly defend itself: Iskander surface-to-surface missiles and Kalibr ship-borne cruise missiles.
The Iskanders in particular, which strike with virtually no warning, have inflicted heavy losses on Ukraine on several occasions. In October 2023, a hit on a village in the Kharkiv region killed more than 50 people at a funeral service.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for almost two years.
On Tuesday morning, Russia and Ukraine both reported overnight drone attacks.
Russian air defences repelled Ukrainian drone attacks on the Crimea peninsula and four other regions overnight, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said, while Russia fired 35 combat drones at Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force said.