According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia wants to drain Ukraine with lengthy drone attacks. “We have information that Russia is planning a long-term attack by Shahed drones,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video address last night. Russia wants to achieve wear and tear with it. “The exhaustion of our people, our air defenses, our energy,” he said. “But we must and will do everything we can to ensure that this goal of the terrorists fails like all the others.”
The Russian military uses kamikaze drones which, at the end of their flight, descend vertically on their target. The relatively slow Iranian-made drones are an easy target for anti-aircraft defenses, but the large numbers of deployed unmanned aerial vehicles and constant air surveillance pose a major challenge for Ukrainian air defenses. Then there is the cost factor – a drone made from cheap parts has to be shot down with expensive weapon systems.
Zelenskyj: Attacks pointless
“Only two days have passed since the beginning of the year,” said Zelenskyy. “And already the number of drones shot down over Ukraine is over 80.” However, the Russian attacks would prove pointless because the Ukrainians stand together, Zelenskyj said. The Russians, on the other hand, are only united by fear. The Russian military mainly use the drones against Ukrainian cities in order to cause as much damage as possible to the energy network there.