Up to 700 drones per day: Ukraine's forces warn of new wave of Russian attacks from September
Illustrative photo: the Armed Forces of Ukraine warned about a new wave of Russian attacks starting in September (defence-ua.com)
The Russian Federation has significantly increased the number of Shahed drones used to attack Ukraine. The enemy is improving its unmanned aerial vehicles, states Commander of a reconnaissance unit of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Denys Yaroslavskyi, in a comment to the RBC-Ukraine YouTube channel.
"They now have more Shaheds. We understand that the enemy is maneuvering its UAV capabilities in a way that allows them to bypass our air defense systems and radar systems. Their electronic intelligence is also at work, which is why we can see Shaheds flying at an altitude of, say, 200 meters, and others climbing as high as 4.5 or 4.2 kilometers. And all of this will only continue to be further upgraded," Yaroslavskyi said.
He noted that, according to Ukrainian intelligence, by around September, the enemy is expected to reach a production capacity of 600–700 Shaheds per day.
"With the altitudes I mentioned and the scale of production, we can expect that by September, every two days, 300–400 Shaheds could be launched at Kharkiv, Kyiv, or other cities. Given all the circumstances, the majority of them will likely hit their targets," he emphasized.
Russia is modernizing the Shaheds
We previously reported that Russia continues to upgrade its Shahed kamikaze drones.
According to the Defense Intelligence (HUR), since the beginning of 2025, several changes have been recorded in the Shahed drones’ design:
-
a new type of warhead weighing 90 kg;
-
the flight controller, power distribution unit, and battery have been moved from the nose to the tail section;
-
additional ballast has been installed in the UAV’s structure.
Yesterday, we wrote that Ukraine is using light aircraft to counter the Russian Shaheds. There are new projects in this area funded by partners.
