Russian forces are increasingly using jet-powered attack drones to strike Ukraine and are changing their tactics for employing them. The enemy takes account of weather conditions along the flight route and near the target.
Air Force Communications Department head Yurii Ihnat said this on the national telethon, Sуспільне reports.
According to Ihnat, Russia has launched about 7,700 jet-powered drones at Ukraine in total. Around 1,900 of them have been launched since the start of September alone.
By comparison, throughout July Russian forces launched 2,800 such drones.
"The interception rate is 60%, which is quite a high figure given the current capabilities of the Defence Forces," the Air Force representative said.
He also noted that in September there were several waves of large numbers of classic Shaheds heading towards Ukraine’s western regions.
According to Yurii Ihnat, the Russian military is constantly developing new manoeuvres, and the intensity of drone use is directly linked to weather conditions.
"The first thing the enemy will look at is the weather conditions in the area along the route and in the area of the target it wants to hit. If there is fog, cloud cover, it will make the work of Ukraine’s air defences more difficult. They are very well versed in this," Ihnat said.
He said Russia is trying to complicate the work of Ukraine’s air defence not only by increasing the number of aerial attack assets, but also by continually refining the tactics for using them.
- On the night of 21 September, the Russian army launched 172 drones of various types at Ukrainian territory.