Drone air defense units set record for downed Shaheds in January - MoD

According to him, over 30,000 Russian troops were destroyed by drones in January — slightly fewer than in December, as the Russian forces’ offensive potential has decreased. Nevertheless, drone units "maintained their standard."

"Our strategic goal is 50,000 Russians destroyed per month. The fewer offensive forces the enemy has, the safer our infantry becomes," the minister reminded.

Fedorov also noted that interceptor drone operators shot down a record number of Russian Shahed attack drones in January. He did not give the exact figure but said that the NEMESIS unit was the leader in destroying Shaheds.

"We are actively improving the effectiveness of small air defense systems to protect the skies. At the same time, together with our partners, we are preventing the enemy from using Western technologies to attack Ukrainians," he added.

Ukraine has created a small counter-drone air defense branch. Colonel Yevhenii Khlebnikov was appointed commander of the new branch. He will operate under the leadership of Deputy Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force Pavlo Yelizarov ("Lazar").

The appointment and deployment of the new command took place against the backdrop of Ukraine’s military leadership focusing on creating an anti-drone dome. According to Fedorov, this dome is necessary to destroy Russian drones while they are still approaching. Work on this initiative is already underway.

Meanwhile, on January 30, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had ordered the reinforcement of counter-drone protection in frontline cities so that Russians could no longer conduct "human safaris" there. By February 4, the president said that much had been done, but it was still not enough.