Kyiv, Ukraine – Kyiv’s municipal military administration reported that Kyiv faced one of its longest attacks on November 7, during which Russian forces conducted an eight-hour raid, launching dozens of kamikaze drones over the capital. As the Russian-Ukrainian war approaches 1,000 days, Russia’s use of drones is becoming more common, straining Ukraine’s air defenses.[1]
The Russian attack covered five districts of Kyiv: Solomianskaya, Holosiivskaya, Pechersk, Podilskaya and Oblonskaya.[2] Among those destroyed were residential buildings, garages, a private medical facility and a business center. According to Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation, Russian attacks largely involve the use of Iranian Shahed drones to terrorize civilians.[3]
The Iranian Shahed-136 assault drone began large-scale use in 2021, when it was used in an attack on the Israeli tanker Mercer Street off the coast of Oman during the Yemen war.[4] Renamed Geran-2 and upgraded, the Shahed-136 drone has found use in Russian military operations on Ukrainian territory.[5]
Geran-2 is an unmanned aerial vehicle with dimensions, 3.5 meters in length and 2.5 meters in wingspan. Its weight is 200 kilograms, of which 50 kilograms are for the warhead. With a simplified autopilot system and inertial navigation and GPS, Shahed-136 drone is capable of reaching targets more than 1,700 kilometers away. It moves at an average speed of 185 km/h at an altitude of about one hundred meters.[6]
In October this year, Russia deployed 10 times more Shahed-136 drones than in the corresponding period in 2023. According to Yuriy Ichnat, a spokesman for Ukraine’s air defense, in addition to increasing the number of attacks, Russia has begun using drone-navigators without warheads aimed at disorienting Ukraine’s air defenses. Drone-navigators now account for half of all Russian drones launched against Ukraine.[7]
Since September 1 of this year, only one night has passed without drone attacks. In Kyiv, emergency sirens howled for 50 hours in September, 80 hours in October and more than 30 hours in the first week of November.[8]
Meanwhile, Ukraine is preparing for an intensification of Russian attacks especially on the eastern front line, in the Donbas region, geopolitical changes and a winter that could prove difficult, due to a strained energy infrastructure.
Tekst powstał w ramach realizacji zadania publicznego zleconego w ramach Rządowego Programu Rozwoju Organizacji Obywatelskich na lata 2018–2030 r. „Bezpieczna Polska jutra – rozwój działań misyjnych Alioth Foundation”.
Bibliography
[1] H. Arhirova, Apnews.com „An 8-hour Russian drone barrage keeps Kyiv on edge as the war in Ukraine nears 1,000 days” [online].
[2] Defence24.pl „ Dronowe ataki na Kijów” [online].
[3] H. Arhirova, Apnews.com „An 8-hour Russian drone barrage keeps Kyiv on edge as the war in Ukraine nears 1,000 days” [online].
[4] E. Fabian, Timesofisrael.com, „Officials: Drone that hit Israeli-owned tanker near Oman was launched from IRGC base” [online].
[5] Defence24.pl „ Rosja produkuje irańskie drony. Zagrożenie dla Ukrainy” [online].
[6] R. Ditrich, Forsal.pl „ Ponad 1000 dronów Shahed-136 w 2 tygodnie. Rosja dręczy Ukrainę masowymi atakami” [online].
[7] D. Tarasova-Markina, C. Edwards, S. Vlasova, Edition.cnn.com „Russia steps up mass drone attacks in bid to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses” [online].
[8] D. Tarasova-Markina, C. Edwards, S. Vlasova, Edition.cnn.com „Russia steps up mass drone attacks in bid to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses” [online].
