Russia escalates drone warfare against Ukrainian cities
During the night between Thursday and Friday, a swarm of drones attacked Odessa, located by the Black Sea, reports Odessa Journal. Authorities in Kyiv mention that Russia has altered its strategy for drone attacks on Ukraine, focusing on deploying swarms of drones targeting civilian infrastructure.
Daria Zarivna, advisor to the head of the President's Office of Ukraine on communications, highlighted in her Telegram post that Russia is attacking civilians using swarms of drones.
"The attacks are targeted, and Putin calls it a ceasefire"
"Russia has adopted the tactic of massive drone attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukrainian cities. The attacks are targeted, and Putin calls it a ceasefire," wrote Daria Zarivna, advisor to the head of the President's Office of Ukraine on communications, on Telegram.
On Thursday night, March 20, Russian forces launched a large-scale drone attack on Odessa, located in southern Ukraine. The State Emergencies Service reported on Telegram on Friday morning, March 21, that the attack resulted in widespread fires, with a shopping centre and stores burning, and a high-rise building being damaged. Preliminary information indicates that three teenagers were injured.
According to Jarosław Junko from PAP, who is in Kyiv, there was a similar drone attack earlier, on the night between Wednesday and Thursday, in Kropyvnytskyi, in the central part of the country. Authorities assessed it as the largest attack on this city since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
What drones does Russia use?
Russia is extensively using Shahed-136 drones. These drones are frequently used for psychological operations aimed at intimidating city residents, or as support for other attack methods, such as cruise missiles. He explained that the drone's navigation system is unsophisticated and only supports flight along a preset route, leading to their main use in attacks on stationary targets like residential areas, due to low accuracy.
The Shahed-136 is a simple drone featuring a delta-shaped wing with a wingspan of about 2.5 metres, along with two vertical stabilizers. It measures about 3.5 metres in length and is constructed using commercially available components. The Shahed-136 weighs about 200 kilograms, with the warhead constituting 50 kilograms. The remaining weight includes a fuel tank powering a Chinese boxer-type gasoline engine with a peak power of 50 horsepower, replicating the German LIMBACH L550 E model. It's assumed that the fuel in the Shahed-136 is enough to cover a distance of up to 2,500 kilometres.
In previous attacks, the Russians launched hundreds of Shahed drones, which, combined with Ch-101 cruise missiles, pose a significant challenge for air defence systems. When targets are numerous, some Ch-101 missiles can more easily penetrate defences. Additionally, the Russians use modified Shahed drones to monitor the activity of Ukrainian air defences.
