Spokesman of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Yuriy Ignat told Ukrainian television that during the invasion, which has been going on for almost two years, the Russians have fired about 7,400 missiles and 3,700 Shahed attack drones at targets in Ukraine.
VIDEO OF THE DAY
The military said that Ukrainian air defenses were able to shoot down 1,600 missiles and 2,900 drones.
«We are dealing with a huge aggressor and we must resist“, said Yuriy Ignat.
Ignat said the lower rate of downed missiles is because Russian forces use supersonic ballistic missiles, which are much harder to shoot down. Another argument is that the West handed over modern Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine only after a few months of the war, and not at its first stage. Patriot systems are the type of weapon capable of shooting down more sophisticated Russian missiles.
Meanwhile, as Reuters reminds, the Russians are increasingly using cheap-to-produce Iranian Shahed drones to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. According to the representative of the Air Force of Ukraine, every night Shahed are shot down over ten to fifteen regions of Ukraine.
Moscow began using Shahed for attacks on critical infrastructure in September 2022. At first, it was difficult to shoot them down, since drones are more difficult to detect on radar than missiles.
Russia’s use of drones in mass attacks created a dilemma for Ukraine. Indeed, they were so cheap to produce that trying to shoot them down with expensive anti-aircraft defenses was not cost effective. However, Ukraine found a way out of this situation as well — we started using cars with machine guns on board to shoot down drones.
«We shot at them with everything we could get our hands on – both pistols and machine guns, – says Colonel Yuriy Ignat, recalling the first attempts to shoot down drones. — Well, by that time it was already clear that the target was not easy. There were many complications and mistakes. We had to be ready.”
Earlier, “FACTS” published an interview with the spokesman of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Yuriy Ignat: “We have very little air defense equipment, but the F-16 will be able to fix everything.”
9
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram