Zelenskyy unveils mass production of new weapons to fight Shahed drones
Photo: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
The Ukrainian Air Defense Forces are relying less on machine guns to destroy drones. They are actively replacing them with interceptors, which are already shooting down enemy Shaheds, according to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“As for the Shahed drones – we are working on this. About a third of the Shaheds are shot down by mobile fire groups. They almost no longer rely on machine guns. They are using different weapons. We have started using interceptors,” the president said.
According to him, Ukraine has been working on this development for a long time.
“Four companies in Ukraine are producing these items. Out of the four, two are very successful. Today, during the attack, dozens of Russian drones were shot down by interceptors. We are no longer talking about single cases. We understand that this is our tool and it definitely works,” the head of state emphasized.
According to him, there were talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and there is already an agreement that Germany will finance this project.
“I am grateful for that. I also reached an agreement at the G7 summit, with Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada. He also allocated funds there. We were heading there – it was 2 billion dollars. We agreed – he increased it to 4. And we need a little time to launch mass production,” the President of Ukraine summarized.
Drone attacks on Ukraine
This year, Ukraine has faced a noticeable increase in the number and scale of drone attacks with Shaheds, which Russia employs in its military operations.
The increase in frequency and intensity of the attacks is linked to Russia’s attempt to exhaust Ukraine’s air defense systems and create panic among the civilian population.
In late May and early June, some military experts and media outlets suggested that Russia was preparing to significantly intensify drone attacks on Ukraine. This information was commented on by the head of the communications department of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yurii Ihnat.
On the night of June 9, Russia launched a record number of aerial targets against Ukraine – 499, of which 479 were neutralized.
And already on the night of June 17, Russia carried out a new massive strike on Ukraine, using 440 drones and 32 missiles.
Today, intelligence reported that Russia has thousands of Shahed-136 strike drones and their imitators in its arsenal. According to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, the enemy can launch up to 500 drones per day against Ukraine.
