 Russia seeks to deplete Ukraine's Patriot missile stocks. Russia's recent powerful missile strike on Ukraine caused significant destruction, but it may have had a more specific purpose. Thus, Russia is likely trying to force Ukraine to use the limited stock of Patriot missiles. Experts shared their opinions in an interview with Business Insider. Russia has chosen a particularly good timing since the US Congress, which is supposed to approve further aid, could limit the provision of Patriot missiles to Ukraine. The protection provided by the systems, Russia will be able to inflict much more damage on Ukraine without fear that its strikes will fail, experts say. Jade Maglin, a researcher of Russian politics and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that depleting Ukraine's stocks of Patriot and other surface-to-air missiles is an obvious part of Russia's strategy. The idea was also expressed by Yaroslav Trofimov, the Wall Street Journal's Chief Correspondent on Foreign Relations. He said that Russia is seeking to destroy Ukraine's stockpile of Patriot missiles in the hope that it can then destroy the batteries that launch them. They will be much more difficult to replace. Ukraine received five Patriot batteries from the USA, Germany and the Netherlands. They can track 100 targets at a distance of 90 kilometers and are credited with destroying multiple Russian missiles and aircraft.