More effective than Shaheds: Sources reveal Ukraine's long-range drone hit rate
Photo: Why Ukrainian drones outperform Shaheds (Russian media)
Ukrainian long-range drones are striking Russia’s oil facilities and weapons plants, doing so far more accurately than Russia’s Shahed drones, according to an RBC-Ukraine article "A chance for peace? Russia's offensive is slowing, but is Putin ready to stop war."
More than 10–12% of Ukrainian long-range drones consistently hit their designated targets, compared with just 3–5% of Russian Shahed drones that make it through Ukrainian air defenses, sources told the publication.
Where Ukraine is striking
Priority targets include facilities involved in the processing, storage, transportation, and export of Russian oil, as well as enterprises producing precision-guided weapons and explosives.
In this way, Ukraine’s Defense Forces are putting pressure on two key pillars of the Kremlin’s war effort at the same time — oil revenues and Russia’s ability to manufacture weapons.
What has changed over the past year
Over the past year, Ukraine has improved not only the number and variety of its strike systems but also the effectiveness of its attacks.
“We are now close to reaching parity in the number of long-range drones being launched. There has been progress — the number of jet-powered drones in strike packages has increased, and so has the size of their warheads,” one source told RBC-Ukraine.
Decoy drones and air defense penetration
Like Russia, Ukraine has begun using decoy and imitation drones with small warheads as part of its attack waves.
Their purpose is to penetrate and exhaust enemy air defense systems.
Russian social media channels indicate that hundreds of drones enter Russian airspace almost every night.
The numbers speak for themselves
- Ukrainian long-range drones hit targets in more than 10–12% of cases.
- Russian Shahed drones that are not intercepted reach their targets in only 3–5% of cases.
- The effectiveness gap is more than twofold.
As previously reported by RBC-Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed a strike on an oil depot in Armavir, Krasnodar region, located about 500 kilometers from the border. According to him, the operation was carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
Meanwhile, Russian-occupied Crimea has introduced fuel rationing. Sales of AI-92 gasoline have been limited to 20 liters per vehicle, a move linked to intensified strikes on logistics and oil infrastructure.
