Russia shifts tactics with 'drone swarms' to overwhelm Ukraine's air defenses - CNN

CNN noted that Russia has intensified its air attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks. It has launched up to 479 drones and missiles in a single night.

The attacks have grown both larger and more frequent. The Russians now strike more concentratedly. Their attacks are harder to repel because they happen at high altitudes, beyond the reach of machine guns.

Russia is ramping up drone production

According to the report, last fall, Russia successfully expanded domestic production of its most common drone, the Iranian-designed Shahed. It now produces hundreds of these drones daily.

Christina Harward, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, said current estimates suggest Moscow can now produce about 2,700 Shahed drones per month. It also produces approximately 2,500 decoy drones per month.

"These numbers are allowing Russia to more frequently launch over 300 or even 400 drones in just one night," she said.

The fact that some drones are decoys has a minimal impact on the Ukrainian defense. Moscow has adapted them to be indistinguishable from real drones.

"So, either Ukrainian forces spend time trying to identify the decoys, or they spend precious resources shooting them down. Either way, this helps the Russian missiles and Shaheds – with their large payloads – have the chance to get through to their targets," Harward said.

The increasing number of drones launched each night overloads Ukraine’s air defense. This is especially true after Russia started concentrating attacks on multiple locations simultaneously.

Oleksiy Melnyk, a former official at Ukraine's Ministry of Defense and now Co-Director of Foreign Relations and International Security Programs at the Razumkov Center in Kyiv, also commented on the change in Russian strike tactics.

"Instead of targeting a bit here and there, they concentrate the strikes and are able to achieve maximum effect, both kinetic and psychological," he said.

Drones are impossible to shoot down

Supreme Court Judge Yuriy Chumak, who is also a member of a volunteer drone-hunting unit at night, said the sky has become much busier in recent weeks.

"There are many more drones. This is an objective fact. And, of course, the more there are, the harder it is to work against them," Chumak stressed.

He said that after Moscow started launching drones at high altitudes, his unit found it much harder, if not impossible, to destroy them.

Previously, Russian forces launched drones low, for example, along riverbeds, to stay undetected by Ukrainian air defenses for as long as possible.

"The time to respond was very short because we only detected it when it was close," he said.

Today, Russian drones fly at altitudes from two to five kilometers above ground.

"We can see them all. Radar can track them. But it has become impossible to shoot them down with machine guns," Chumak explained.

He added that Ukraine now has to use missiles to counter them.

Russian attacks on Ukraine

In recent weeks, Russia has significantly intensified air attacks on Ukraine. Since early summer, it has launched a series of massive strikes hitting nearly all Ukrainian regions.

For example, just last night, Russians heavily attacked Kremenchuk in the Poltava region. The enemy used both missiles and drones in the strikes.

Local media reported it was one of the largest attacks on the city, with residents counting at least 30 explosions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 2,800 Russian drones and 140 missiles have attacked Ukraine since early summer.

Also, on June 15, the General Staff reported that Ukraine struck a key Russian strike drone production facility in Tatarstan.