Jet-powered Russian drones strain Ukraine's air defences
KYIV, Sept 22 - Vasyl, a portable rocket operator in one of Ukraine's many mobile air defence groups, was dismayed when he checked his screen. The Russian jet-powered Shahed drone moving towards his position was flying far too high for him to shoot it down.
"Before, Shaheds used to fly lower — one or 1.5 kilometres (above ground) and we could work on them," said Vasyl, who goes by the call sign Racoon, while on a mission to protect the capital Kyiv and the surrounding region with a shoulder-fired ground-to-air missile.
"But jet-powered drones now fly at four, five, even seven kilometres. It's not realistic for us to down them," the 26-year-old said.
Since Russia started widely using jet-powered drones this summer, hundreds have crashed into Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, evading air defences. The new drones fly at high speeds and high altitudes, blurring the line between drones and cruise missiles.
The result has been disruption to businesses, government and ordinary life on a much bigger scale than in the previous four-and-a-half years of the war since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
In the first three weeks of September, Russia launched 2,100 jet-powered attack drones and 136 missiles at Ukraine, killing 288 people, including four children, according to Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi.
In August, Russia launched more than 2,800 such drones, he said. Moscow denies targeting civilians despite the growing civilian death toll and the devastation caused to cities across Ukraine.
Vasyl and his mobile drone-hunting crew of three people have only seconds to react to attacks by jet-powered drones, instead of minutes with the propeller versions of the Shahed. Russia is also now launching drones round the clock instead of largely at night.
"It's aiming to wear down our air defences," said Vasyl, adding that drones had been flying all day. "It all takes its toll, because we're out on duty and we're not really getting any sleep."
Ukraine is intercepting only about 60% of the jet-powered drones, compared to the more than 90% of earlier models that were routinely intercepted, said Yurii Ihnat, the Ukrainian air force's spokesperson.
The new drones are more expensive than propeller versions, but are still cheaper than the cruise missiles that Russia has been firing at Ukraine.
In recent months, Moscow has systematically targeted the pillars of Ukraine's economy including its Black Sea grain ports, railways and the steel and logistics sectors.
Hundreds of thousands of square meters of warehouses and commercial properties have been destroyed in Ukraine. Russia has disrupted supplies of food products, medicines, and other daily-use products for the first time since the early days of the war.
Moscow has used the new tactic as its advances on the battlefield stalled. Ukraine has also ramped up its own strikes on Russia, hitting its oil and fuel infrastructure and weapon production companies.
The shift in Russian tactics was anticipated, said Fedir Venislavskyi, a lawmaker in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's ruling party and a member of parliament's security committee, adding that efforts were now underway to come up with effective defences.
Ukrainian officials have reported several successful combat uses of drone interceptors against jet-propelled Russian drones, but their mass production and other potential solutions would require time and money.
Money is in short supply: Zelenskiy has announced an unexpected defence funding shortfall for this year of $27 billion as the war has become more expensive. Kyiv is in talks with its partners on how to cover the gap.
"I believe that we will resolve the issue of jet-powered drones in the short term. But as with all other aspects of buying weapons, everything comes down to financial resources," Venislavskyi said. REUTERS
