Veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war and former company commander of the Aidar battalion, Yevhen Dykyi, explained why the occupation forces attack Ukraine every night with Shahed drones, despite the fact that most of them are destroyed by air defense systems (ADF).
In his opinion, the daily raids of the “Shaheeds” deplete not only the morale of the Ukrainians, but also the reserves of anti-aircraft missiles. “Not all “Shaheeds” are shot down by mobile groups with machine guns,” Dykyi noted on Radio NV. He emphasized that destroying drones with machine guns is “cheap and angry,” but during each large-scale attack, air defense forces are forced to use expensive resources, such as MiG-29s and F-16s, as well as man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems (MANPADS).
“These shaheeds are depleting our resource, which could be used for more serious threats, such as cruise missiles, of which there are significantly fewer,” the expert added.
Dyky also emphasized the cooperation between Russia and Iran in the production of drones. According to him, the occupiers were able to reach the planned production figures of 600 "Shaheeds" per month, while the production of cruise missiles is limited to several dozen.
According to information, in the three weeks of September, the Russian occupiers used a record number of Shahed-131/136 drones, but their effectiveness turned out to be low - less than 3% of the targets hit. Putin announced plans to increase the production of drones in 2024 to 1.4 million units.
Aviation expert Anatoly Khrapchinsky notes that Russia wants airstrikes to be constantly heard in Ukraine, which confirms its intentions to increase drone production. The occupiers' tactics are becoming clearer: by exhausting Ukrainian air defenses, they are trying to reduce the effectiveness of the country's defense and prepare the ground for more serious attacks.
