Russia is facing an increasingly acute and potentially catastrophic degradation of its air defence capabilities, a structural weakness that Ukraine is now exploiting with methodical precision to strike strategic targets deep within Russian territory on a daily basis. While much public discourse rightly focuses on Ukraine’s own air defence shortages, particularly its limited stocks of US made Patriot interceptors required to counter fast flying Russian ballistic missiles, this narrative overlooks a more decisive trend. The reality is that Russia’s air defence problem is now almost certainly more severe, and the gap in capabilities is widening every day. Ukraine’s difficulties in…