Shahed can fly for up to 24 hours over Ukrainian territory - Air Force
Photo: Illia Yevlash, spokesperson of the Ukrainian Air Force (Getty Images)
Drones like the Shahed can fly over Ukrainian territory for about 24 hours. To achieve this, the Russian forces reduce their payload, states the spokesperson of the Ukrainian Air Force, Illia Yevlash, in an interview with the Center for Counteracting Disinformation.
“I personally saw it flying for more than 24 hours. It circled over various nature reserves. It was hunted for a long time there, but eventually they shot it down. But it can last quite a long time, about 24 hours,” Yevlash said.
According to him, Shaheds differ from one another. Some have a smaller warhead but a larger fuel tank. This is what affects the duration of their flights.
Yevlash also noted that, in addition to Shaheds, the Russian forces have similar drones and "decoy" UAVs. Their goal is to wear out Ukraine's air defense systems.
He further explained the term "locational loss," meaning that a drone could have crashed either due to poor assembly or electronic warfare, or because it ran out of fuel.
Shelling of Ukraine
Recently, Russia has started the practice of daily drone attacks on Ukrainian territory.
Earlier, we reported that in October, the Russian Federation launched 2,023 Shahed-type drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of unspecified types against Ukraine. This became the highest number of drone attacks in the current year.
In August, September, and October 2024, Russia fired 4,300 strike drones at Ukraine. These included both Shahed drones and UAVs of other types designed to imitate real Shaheds.
