-
Russia launched more than 6,000 drones and missiles this fall, according to The Wall Street Journal.
-
Ukraine has used a combination of air defense systems and electronic warfare to counter the attacks.
-
To overcome these tactics, Russia is increasing its use of decoy drones against Ukraine.
Russia fired four times as many drones and missiles at Ukraine in the past three months compared to the same time a year ago, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal.
Based on data from the Ukrainian Air Force Command, the report states that Russia launched more than 6,000 drones and missiles during the war in September, October and November.
Ukraine has used a combination of air defense missile systems and electronic warfare technology to counter Russian attacks.
However, Russia has used various tactics to overcome Ukrainian air defenses, including simultaneously attacking Ukraine with a variety of drones and missiles.
It has also used unarmed, fake drones in swarm attacks, Kiev’s military intelligence service, known as HUR, wrote in a statement shared with messaging app Telegram in November.
These drones are smaller and cheaper than the Iranian-made Shahed-136 one-way drone often used by Russia against Ukraine.
The decoy drones, dubbed “Parody” by Ukrainians, apparently mimic the radar signature of a Shahed to deceive Kiev’s air defenses.
Analysts believe the record drone strikes may be intended to damage Ukraine’s air defenses ahead of a major attack on the country’s energy infrastructure.
“The Ukrainians are in for a difficult winter,” George Barros, team leader for Russia and geospatial intelligence at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), told Sky News.
“They are very resilient and have found ways to mitigate the impact of Russian attacks, but at the same time the Russians have also learned: they have managed to find more effective and creative ways to penetrate Ukraine’s air defenses.”
On Sunday, Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down 28 of 74 drones launched by Russia in a nighttime attack on Ukraine. Another 46 drones were ‘lost’, the air force said.
Russia has also increased its use of missiles. Late last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced more details about the ‘Oreshnik’ hypersonic missile, days after it was first used to bomb a munitions factory in Ukraine’s Dnipro region.
He said the missile’s destructive elements reach a temperature of more than 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and that it was used in response to Ukraine’s Western allies allowing their long-range missiles to be used against Russia.
Read the original article on Business Insider
