 Russia is stockpiling missiles before strikes on Ukraine. British intelligence has suggested that Russia has not launched missile strikes on Ukraine for three weeks due to the fact that the Russian Air Force is waiting for more missiles. Russian Air Force long-range aviation aircraft have not conducted a strike against Ukraine since the 21st of September 2023, a period of 21 days. While such breaks have not been unusual, the last similar break in strikes occurred between the 9th of March and the 28th of April 2023, a period of 51 days. In that instance, it was likely that long-range aviation had almost depleted its stocks of capable AS-23 missile munitions following its winter campaign against Ukrainian critical national infrastructure. This time, it is likely that Russian long-range aviation are preserving existing stocks of AS-23 missiles as well as using this pause to increase usable stocks in anticipation of further heavy strikes against Ukraine over the winter, UK intelligence said. UK intelligence notes that Russia has recently focused its airstrikes on grain-related facilities in the south of Ukraine using Shahead drones. This included strikes on Ukrainian ports on the Danube River, likely requiring a high level of precision given the closeness of the target to the Romanian border. UK intelligence suggested that Russia has used Shahead UAVs for these attacks as these drones have superior accuracy compared to other types of air-launched missiles.