What to know about the Iranian drones Russia is using to attack Ukraine
A wave of kamikaze drones struck Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Monday morning, killing at least four and wounding several others, after one blew apart a residential building in the capital and other drones targeted thermal power stations across the country.
The attacks appeared to be the largest drone assault unleashed by Russia on civilian targets since the start of the war. Russia launched 43 drones and Ukraine successfully shot down all but six, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
The attack highlighted how Russia is increasingly turning to using attack drones built and supplied by Iran to bolster its failing war effort in Ukraine. Russia has ordered hundreds of military drones from Iran’s government, according to western and Ukrainian officials, as it seeks to fill gaps in its own drone arsenal and as it runs short of long-range missiles.
Ukraine’s government said the drones used in the attacks were mostly Iran’s Shahed-136s, large so-called loitering munitions, which Russia is employing like slow, small cruise missiles.
Iran’s government has denied it is supplying drones to Russia to use in Ukraine but their deployment has already been widely documented since September. Ukrainian troops regularly post images of their wreckage and the drones' distinctive wing shape makes them easily identifiable.
The 11-foot-long, propeller-powered drones are relatively unsophisticated, according to defense analysts, but still pose a serious threat, particularly if Russia receives them in large numbers.
The Shahed-136 relies on a small civilian motor and commercially available GPS systems, making it vulnerable to jamming and relatively easy to bring down, Samuel Bendett, an expert on Russian unmanned aerial systems, told ABC News. Russian troops have taken to nicknaming these drones “mopeds” because of their loud whine, he said.
While vastly slower than Russia’s advanced cruise missiles, they are still able to fly hundreds of miles, capable of reaching almost anywhere in Ukraine. Slow and low-flying, they can also be difficult for some air defenses to detect and intercept. Their 50 kilogram payload is also relatively limited, but as Monday’s attacks show, the missiles can still sometimes cause significant damage.
The drones’ greatest advantage, experts said, is that they are cheap compared to conventional missiles.
“The whole point of using these Shaheds is to send them in waves. To stress Ukrainian air defenses, to have them expend ammunition, to keep people on edge,” Bendett said. “It’s not about all of them making it through, it’s about just some of them making it through.”