Web desk: Russia's defence ministry on Sunday said it is preparing a series of "massive" strikes targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, days after launching a devastating attack on a warehouse near Kyiv.

In a post published on Sunday on Telegram, the defence ministry framed the planned attacks as a response to the continued Ukrainian strikes against Russian energy sites.

“In accordance with the received instructions, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation began preparing to launch massive strikes against Ukrainian energy facilities as a response to the continuing attacks of the Kiev regime against the Russian civil infrastructure and fuel and energy facilities,” the post said said, according to a Google translation.

The warning comes as after a Russian strike hit an ammunition storage facility in the village of Myla, triggering fires and explosions. The death toll from a Russian strike on a warehouse west of Kyiv on Friday evening rose to 38, with four people missing, according to Ukrainian authorities, making it the single deadliest attack in Ukraine this year.

Defence analysts say that Russia is looking to take advantage of a lack of Ukrainian interceptor and air defence missiles, since supplies from the US - Ukraine's largest supplier of weapons - have dried up in the wake of the US conflict with Iran. Interceptor and air defence missiles, particularly for the Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Air Defence (THAAD) systems - which have been crucial in protecting Ukrainian ground operations and providing cover from relentless Russian missile, drone and air attacks - have been in particularly short supply.