Ukraine reports sharp rise in Russian jet-powered drone attacks

The Russian army used nearly 3,500 jet-powered drones against Ukraine in September.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said this on Ukrainian television, CE Report quotes Ukrinform.

"Statistics show that they [the Russians] are increasing their use [of jet-powered UAVs], because there were 350 jet-powered UAVs in June, 1,500 in July, 2,800 in August, and 3,500 in September," Ihnat said.

At the same time, he said, October has seen a certain decrease in the number of such weapons: "The enemy uses 50 per night, while during the day there may be 30."

He stressed that jet-powered UAVs are more difficult to intercept than conventional attack drones. In terms of their characteristics, Russian jet-powered drones and Banderols are approaching cruise missiles, meaning that conventional systems used to counter Shahed drones may be less effective. New air defense systems are therefore needed to intercept them.

"Innovative solutions from our defense industry and our military and political leadership, together with our partners, will help us address this problem," the spokesperson said.

Colonel Yurii Cherevashenko, Deputy Commander of the Air Force in charge of air defense, said earlier that the speed of Russian jet-powered drones could eventually reach 800-900 km/h.

Photo: Chat GPT