Russia attacked Ukraine with 50 UAVs to degrade Kyiv’s air defenses before winter: UK

Russia used 50 Iranian-made Shahed one-way drones towards Kyiv between 18-19 November to likely degrade Ukraine’s air defenses ahead of the Russian campaign in winter, the British ministry of defense said on Tuesday.

“Between the 18-19 November 2023 Russia launched around 50 Iranian-designed Shahed one way-attack uncrewed aerial vehicles, primarily towards Kyiv. These were launched in waves on two axes – from the Kursk to the east, and from Krasnodar to the south-east,” the UK ministry of defense said in its war intelligence update.

It added: “One of Russia’s objectives was likely to degrade Ukraine’s air defenses, to shape the battlespace ahead of any concerted winter campaign of strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.”

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday: “As winter approaches, there will be more Russian attempts to make the strikes more powerful,” thanking the military for destroying almost 30 Shahed drones in the skies of Ukraine.

The UK intelligence report stated: “Russia has now refrained from launching its premier air launched cruise missiles from its heavy bomber fleet for nearly two months, likely allowing it to build up a substantial stock of these weapons. Russia is highly likely to use these missiles if it repeats last year’s effort to destroy Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure.”

On Sunday, an overnight Russian drone attack on Ukraine damaged an infrastructure facility in the Kyiv region, Ruslan Kravchenko, head of the regional military administration, said as cited by state news agency Ukrinform. “For the second night in a row, Russian terrorists are attacking the Kyiv region using UAVs. The air raid alert lasted almost five hours. Air defenses were active in the Kyiv region,” he said.

Also on Sunday, Ukraine’s air defenses shot down nearly a dozen Russian aerial targets approaching Kyiv. “Approximately a dozen enemy targets were intercepted by our air defense forces over Kyiv and on the approaches to the city (final data on the type and number of those targets will be reported by the Air Force). According to tentative reports, no casualties or critical destruction were recorded in the city,” said Serhii Popko, the chief of the Kyiv City Military Administration.

He added: “Enemy drones were launched in multiple groups and attacked Kyiv in waves, from different directions, while constantly changing their flight vectors along the route. That is why the air raid alert went off in the capital several times”