Russia's Jet-Powered Drones Outpace Ukraine's Defences — SkimNews
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- Ukraine's Air Force data shows jet-powered drone attacks surged from 350 in June to 1,600 in July and 2,800 in August, outnumbering older slow models in five nightly August strikes, per BBC Verify analysis.
- Russia's upgraded Geran drones cruise at more than 300mph on turbojet engines — some sourced from China according to Ukrainian military intelligence — making them difficult for Kyiv's interceptors to catch, said King's College London's Dr Marina Miron.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the escalation as an unfolding 'horror' over Kyiv after a 1 September wave involving the new drones killed at least 12 people and injured 20, including six railway workers hit at a Kyiv depot.
- Ukraine's Deputy Head of Military Intelligence Maj Gen Vadym Skibitskyi said on 10 August his forces need new interceptor missiles 'capable of matching' the jet drones, and four Ukrainian companies are now testing counter-munitions tasked by Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara to produce 'thousands of units' quickly.
- A Russian jet-powered drone entered Moldovan airspace on Tuesday, delaying the plane carrying Zelensky at Chisinau airport, the Moldovan government said.
- Satellite images show Russia redesigned facilities at the Tsymbulova base in Oryol region, roughly 175km from the Ukrainian border, with longer rails to host jet-powered drones; Oryol was not listed as a launch site before September 2024 but was named in almost every attack by August.
- The Foundation for Defense of Democracies' John Hardie said faster, more manoeuvrable drones blur the line with cruise missiles, calling long-range one-way attack drones 'basically a poor man's cruise missile,' though Conflict Armament Research stressed jet-drones still carry smaller warheads and shorter range.
Why it matters: Ukraine's previously 94% drone-interception rate is crumbling as Moscow fields a faster, harder-to-shoot weapon produced at a new dedicated facility. With four Ukrainian firms racing to field matching interceptor missiles and a global air-defence shortage worsened by the US-Israeli war with Iran, Kyiv is conceding its drone shield is no longer adequate.
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