Rain of explosive drones on Kiev: Russia's new tactic: "It's impossible to shoot them down."

Special envoy to KievThe sound of Russian drones interspersed the insistent bursts of gunfire from anti-aircraft defenses early Tuesday morning. A constant sound over Kiev, reminiscent of a ship's siren, mingled with the pounding of Ukrainian machine guns, overwhelmed by the scale of the attack, one of the most intense and lethal on the Ukrainian capital. 28 people died and 134 were injured, according to the latest official report. This is the fourth year of war, and Russia has adapted its strategy of night terror. In recent weeks, Vladimir Putin's army has launched several attacks with more than 400 drones in a single night. The goal is to saturate Ukraine's defense systems, which are also increasingly scarce due to the change in US policy, which is reducing the amount of military aid it sends to Kiev.

In more than nine hours of incessant attacks, Russia launched 472 drones and two Kinzhal ballistic missiles against Ukraine on Tuesday, mainly targeting the capital. The noise of drones, missiles, and explosions did not stop until it was already clear and the magnitude of the disaster became evident with a thick, black cloud of smoke covering the city. Ten days earlier, Moscow had sent 479 unmanned aerial vehicles and around forty missiles to Ukraine. This June, there have been four attacks in which the Russian military launched more than 400 drones in a single night. Fears are growing in the country that this is the new normal.

The Ukrainian military reported Tuesday that its air defenses had shot down 428 shells, a still very high effectiveness rate, but it fears it could decline. Moscow is greatly accelerating drone production in order to maintain this pace of attacks more massive than ever.

In addition to launching more and more drones simultaneously, it flies them at higher altitudes, making them more difficult to intercept. And it has introduced an even new tactic: the launch of large numbers of decoy drones, unmanned aircraft that do not carry a warhead. These types of imitation drones are launched alongside Shahed-type drones, these ones with explosives, with the intention of diverting and exhausting the resources of air defenses.

Moreover, the Shaheds—originally Iranian-made but now being produced in large numbers by Russia—are becoming more effective, thanks in large part to new jet engines that allow them to fly faster, carry larger bombs, and maintain higher altitudes. These drones have a range of 2,000 kilometers and carry a high-explosive payload of 40 kilograms. And they are relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of missiles. Although estimates vary, each one is thought to cost between $20,000 and $50,000, according to a report by the think tank American Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Christina Harward, Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), recently explained in the Kyiv Post that Moscow can produce around 2,700 Shahed drones per month, along with 2,500 decoy drones, which flood the skies of Ukraine and test its air defenses. Added to this is the fact that the Trump administration has decided to divert 20,000 anti-drone missiles that the Biden administration had promised in Ukraine to the Middle East. This was announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 8 and confirmed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth last week.

Drone-hunting judges

"Russia has rapidly increased the production of all weapons, including drones, and at the same time we are experiencing a reduction in US aid, so the situation is very complicated," admits Yuri Chumak. He is one of the 550 volunteers organized in Kiev into various units to protect the city from Russian airstrikes. "For us, it's a huge disappointment and even a betrayal; now we see that it will be very difficult for us to win the war without US aid," he laments.

Chumak is a judge at the Supreme Court of Ukraine, and since the start of the large-scale Russian invasion, he has combined his work with being a drone hunter once a week. His volunteer team includes other judges. There's even one from the Constitutional Court. "They give us weapons and ammunition; we don't get a salary," Chumak explains. He says that in March 2022, there were more than a thousand volunteers organized in Kiev, a number that has since halved, among other reasons because some 400 men have been called up. Those who remain are those who cannot be mobilized, either because of their profession or other circumstances, such as health problems.

He explains that they are encountering many more difficulties lately. "Russia has changed its tactics and is now flying drones very high. And we can't shoot them down with machine guns. The largest ones can fly at most two kilometers, but they're flying at three. We detect them, but it's impossible to shoot them down," he explains from the position of his team, dubbed "S." They've swapped a rooftop in the city for a dilapidated boat they've retrofitted themselves somewhere on the Dnieper River, on the outskirts of Kiev. Anything more could put them in danger. The change of location is for practical reasons: here there's no risk of debris from downed shells or shrapnel damaging infrastructure or civilians.

In addition to the volunteer groups and military personnel located in more or less fixed positions, the Ukrainian air defenses deploy several teams with heavy machine guns mounted on vehicles. pick-up to shoot down the Shaheds as they approach. On the bridges along the highway leading to Kiev, it's easy to see some, waiting for the alarm to go off and another sleepless night to begin.

Chumak and his colleagues use very old weapons; some even date back to before World War II. They have the advantage of being cheap to operate; they just need to hand over the ammunition. During the nights of attacks in Kiev, short bursts, lasting just a few seconds, can be heard, typical of these old machine guns. "To shoot down drones flying at three kilometers, we would have to use missiles, which can cost between $100,000 and $200,000 each. And if we have hundreds of drones attacking us in a single night..." he summarizes with resignation. The war machine is working like lightning, but these are unattainable figures.

"How can we be tired here?"

For over three years, Chumak has been combining his profession with nights spent hunting drones. But he has no other plans. "If people said, 'Look, we've got the military, let them fight and we'll get on with our ordinary lives,' we wouldn't survive. This is all-out war. Of course, everyone's tired from sleepless nights, the economic situation, the uncertain future... But how can we say we're tired here?

This meeting was on June 15th. A Sunday with a fantastic solo. Near the boat, people were fishing. The streets were crowded, the terraces lively. That night, the air raid sirens went off, and in the distance, the bursts of anti-aircraft gunfire could be heard. But it was a short ordeal and, at least in Kyiv, without consequences. The night must have been peaceful enough on the judges' boat. The next day was hellish. "Everyone's fine, but unfortunately, we weren't able to shoot down any drones," Yuri replied to me on Tuesday morning, when Kyiv was beginning to recover the sounds of an ordinary city. The singing The sound of birds. The sound of cars. But the stench of smoke from the fires caused by the bombs and the sleepy faces betrayed that it had been one of the longest and most violent nights in recent months in the capital.