Swarms of Russian drones attack Ukraine nightly as Moscow puts new emphasis on the deadly weapon
Russia now often batters Ukraine with more drones in a single night than it did during some entire months in 2024, and analysts say the barrages are likely to escalate. On July 8, Russia unleashed more than 700 drones — a record.
Some experts say that number could soon top 1,000 a day.
The spike comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has given Russia until early September to reach a ceasefire or face new sanctions -– a timeframe Moscow is likely to use to inflict as much damage as possible on Ukraine.
Russia has sharply increased its drone output and appears to keep ramping it up. Initially importing Shahed drones from Iran early in the 3 1/2-year-old war, Russia has boosted its domestic production and upgraded the original design.
The Russian Defense Ministry says it's turning its drone force into a separate military branch. It also has established a dedicated center for improving drone tactics and better training for those flying them.
Fighting 'a war of drones'
Russian engineers have changed the original Iranian Shahed to increase its altitude and make it harder to intercept, according to Russian military bloggers and Western analysts. Other modifications include making it more jamming-resistant and able to carry powerful thermobaric warheads. Some use artificial intelligence to operate autonomously.
The original Shahed and its Russian replica — called 'Geran,' or 'geranium' — have an engine to propel it at 180 kph (just over 110 mph). A faster jet version is reportedly in the works.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War noted that cooperation with China has allowed Russia to bypass Western sanctions on imports of electronics for drone production. Ukraine's military intelligence estimates that Russia receives up to 65% of components for its Geran drones from China. Beijing rejects the claims.
Russia initially launched its production of the Iranian drones at factory in Alabuga, located in Tatarstan. An Associated Press investigation found employees at the Alabuga plant included young African women who said they were duped into taking jobs there. Geran production later began at a plant in Udmurtia, west of the Ural Mountains. Ukraine has launched drone attacks on both factories but failed to derail production.
A report Sunday by state-run Zvezda TV described the Alabuga factory as the world's biggest attack drone plant.
'It's a war of drones. We are ready for it,' said plant director Timur Shagivaleyev, adding it produces all components, including engines and electronics, and has its own training school.
The report showed hundreds of black Geran drones stacked in an assembly shop decorated with Soviet-style posters. One featured images of the father of the Soviet nuclear bomb, Igor Kurchatov, legendary Soviet space program chief, Sergei Korolyov, and dictator Josef Stalin, with the words: 'Kurchatov, Korolyov and Stalin live in your DNA.'
Shifting tactics and defenses
The Russian military has improved its tactics, increasingly using decoy drones named 'Gerbera' for a type of daisy. They closely resemble the attack drones and are intended to confuse Ukrainian defenses and distract attention from their more deadly twins.
By using large numbers of drones in one attack, Russia seeks to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses and keep them from targeting more expensive cruise and ballistic missiles that Moscow often uses alongside the drones to hit targets like key infrastructure facilities, air defense batteries and air bases.
Former Russian Defense Ministry press officer Mikhail Zvinchuk, who runs a popular war blog, noted the Russian military has learned to focus on a few targets to maximize the impact. The drones can roam Ukraine's skies for hours, zigzagging past defenses, he wrote.
'Our defense industries' output allows massive strikes on practically a daily basis without the need for breaks to accumulate the necessary resources,' said another military blogger, Alexander Kots. 'We no longer spread our fingers but hit with a punching fist in one spot to make sure we hit the targets.'
Ukraine relies on mobile teams armed with machine guns as a low-cost response to the drones to spare the use of expensive Western-supplied air defense missiles. It also has developed interceptor drones and is working to scale up production, but the steady rise in Russian attacks is straining its defenses.
How Russia affords all those drones
Despite international sanctions and a growing load on its economy, Russia's military spending this year has risen 3.4% over 2024, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which estimated it at the equivalent of about $200 billion. While budgetary pressures could increase, it said, the current spending level is manageable for the Kremlin.
Over 1.5 million drones of various types were delivered to the military last year, said President Vladimir Putin.
Frontelligence Insight, a Ukraine-based open-source intelligence organization, reported this month that Russia launched more than 28,000 Shahed and Geran drones since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, with 10% of the total fired last month alone.
While ballistic and cruise missiles are faster and pack a bigger punch, they cost millions and are available only in limited quantities. A Geran drone costs only tens of thousands of dollars — a fraction of a ballistic missile.
The drones' range of about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) allows them to bypass some defenses, and a relatively big load of 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of explosives makes them a highly effective instrument of what the Center for Strategic and International Studies calls 'a cruel attritional logic.'
CSIS called them 'the most cost-effective munition in Russia's firepower strike arsenal.'
'Russia's plan is to intimidate our society,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that Moscow seeks to launch 700 to 1,000 drones a day. Over the weekend, German Maj. Gen. Christian Freuding said in an interview that Russia aims for a capability of launching 2,000 drones in one attack.
Russia could make drone force its own military branch
Along the more than 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, short-range attack drones have become prolific and transformed the fighting, quickly spotting and targeting troops and weapons within a 10-kilometer (6-mile) kill zone.
Russian drone units initially were set on the initiative of midlevel commanders and often relied on equipment purchased with private donations. Once drones became available in big numbers, the military moved last fall to put those units under a single command.
Putin has endorsed the Defense Ministry's proposal to make drones a separate branch of the armed forces, dubbed the Unmanned Systems Troops.
Russia has increasingly focused on battlefield drones that use thin fiber optic cables, making them immune to jamming and have an extended range of 25 kilometers (over 15 miles). It also has set up Rubicon, a center to train drone operators and develop the best tactics.
Such fiber optic drones used by both sides can venture deeper into rear areas, targeting supply, support and command structures that until recently were deemed safe.
Michael Kofman, a military expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the Russian advancements have raised new defensive challenges for Ukraine.
'The Ukrainian military has to evolve ways of protecting the rear, entrenching at a much greater depth,' Kofman said in a recent podcast.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
9 minutes ago
- New York Times
Quote of the Day: TRUMP'S ICE USES NEW WAY TO SPLIT MIGRANT FAMILIES
'I wouldn't wish it even to an enemy. It's a constant grief and longing.' EVGENILIA, who with her family fled her native Russia and sought political asylum in the United States, on choosing to be sent to an immigration detention center while her 8-year-old son was taken to a shelter for unaccompanied children over returning to her homeland as a family.
New York Post
10 minutes ago
- New York Post
Michael Goodwin: Sen. Warren backing Mamdani is the latest example of Dems floundering — and their zany agenda
More than six months into Donald Trump's highly consequential second term, Democrats are still looking for their sputtering resistance movement to deliver some big victories. Instead, they've suffered repeated failures and are responding with an increasingly angry radicalism that has zero appeal to the hearts and minds of most voters. A recent Wall Street Journal poll found that a mere 33% of national respondents hold a favorable view of Dems, which the Journal called the party's lowest point in its polls over three decades. Advertisement It also found that a stunning 63% of voters hold an unfavorable view of the party. Those dismal results are the fruit of a run of bad candidates —think Kamala Harris and Tim Walz — and a scatter-shot strategy that consistently defies common sense and traditional American middle-class values. The impression is that party leaders and high-profile advocates are lurching from one temper tantrum about Trump to another, each delivered with the desperation of a Hail Mary pass. Advertisement They seem more concerned about the welfare of illegal immigrants, including gang-bangers, than about the physical safety and financial security of innocent, tax-paying Americans. Comes now the latest example of their zany agenda, this one courtesy of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. In a few brief remarks Monday, she managed to prove that the passing years have not dimmed her gift for poor judgment and terrible ideas. Major party headache Her new brainstorm threatens to become another major headache for her party. Advertisement Appearing in Gotham with socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, Warren declared that 'New York City is the place to start the conversation for Democrats on how affordability is the central issue, the central reason to be a Democrat, and that delivering on it in meaningful, tangible ways that will touch working families is why we're here.' It's a pretty strange thing to say given that it was almost exclusively Democratic mayors, governors and lawmakers that created the affordability crisis she now bemoans. She went on to claim that Mamdani, the 33–year-old nepo-baby radical who won the Dems' mayoral primary, should be the party's national face. 'Bring it on!' Republicans say, convinced that he would be a major drag for Dems in the 2026 elections. Advertisement The GOP would be delighted to run against a party that features a radical leftist who never held a real job in his life. It's worth noting that four years ago, then-Mayor-elect Eric Adams declared himself 'the new face of the Democratic Party.' The idea never gained much traction, with his tenure soon swamped by the tide of illegal border crossers waved in by Joe Biden, as hundreds of thousands made their way to New York for free housing, food and medical care. Adams never quite recovered, and that was even before he faced federal corruption charges brought under Biden that the Trump Justice Department dropped. Nonetheless, the turmoil and critical coverage were such a burden that Adams passed up his party's primary and is seeking re-election in November as an independent. Although he and the NYPD deserve great credit for driving shootings to historic lows, recent polls show the mayor's support is stuck in single digits and sometimes falls below the slice of voters who say they are undecided. NY Dems shun him As for Warren's idea about making Mamdani the national model for the party, she is so deep in fantasy land that she's even out of step with leading New York Dems. They are avoiding the far-leftist candidate like the plague, which is what he could be politically in areas that are more balanced than the People's Republic of New York, where there is just one registered Republican for every six registered Dems. Advertisement And so Gov. Hochul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries all have declined to endorse Mamdani, which is an exceptional rebuke to him and his platform. Normally, they would reflexively back the winner of the party's mayoral primary, but they look ahead and see his major positions — defund the police, hike taxes, boycott Israel and support the anti-Jewish mobs disrupting cities and college campuses — as a toxic brew that even if it prevails in the city, won't fly around the rest of the state or across the nation. They see him as a major burden next year, when Hochul will be seeking re-election and Schumer and Jeffries will be trying to guide Dems to victory in their respective chambers. Of the group, Hochul has been the most outspoken and explicit in shunning him. Advertisement Mamdani's plan to tax high-income New Yorkers would require legislative approval and her signature, and the governor made it clear that's not going to happen. Days before the late June primary, Hochul threw cold water on the tax proposals he aims to use to fund his long list of free things, including buses and child care. 'I'm not raising taxes at a time where affordability is the big issue,' she said in a TV interview. 'I don't want to lose any more people to Palm Beach. We've lost enough . . . so let's be smart about this.' Advertisement Hochul's answer was surprising in that she's usually an automatic yes vote for new taxes, congestion pricing being a recent example. But her answer was also clever in that she adopted Mamdani's theme of an 'affordability crisis' and turned it on its head to use it as a reason not to support him. She's right in the sense that when it comes to affordability, New York governments' addiction to high spending and taxing already are major causes. Trickle-down pain City and state regulations also amount to a mountain of expensive red tape that discourage construction as well as business and job creation. Advertisement Her congestion tax is a good example of the trickle-down impact. The price of every loaf of bread, bottle of beer and bag of potato chips sold in Midtown now includes a portion of the added tax she slapped on delivery trucks. Meanwhile, the state's enormous budget reflects the way the government mafia grabs a piece of every action. Albany is now spending $254 billion this year, more than $100 billion more than it spent a decade ago. Florida has millions of more people than New York, but somehow manages to make do with spending $117 billion. That's almost identical to the city's budget alone, which is $116 billion this year, up from $75 billion over the last decade. These exploding expense budgets do not include the numerous 'off-the-books' entities such as the MTA, public colleges and universities, the Dormitory Authority and scores of other lesser-known units that spend multiple billions of dollars they collect from the public. Just remember: As bad as things are, they can always get worse. And if Mamdani is elected, everything definitely would get worse.
CNN
11 minutes ago
- CNN
India's Modi is caught between Putin's cheap Russian oil and Trump's latest tariff threats
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been performing a tricky balancing act – maintaining close partnerships with US President Donald Trump and Russia's leader Vladimir Putin while insisting his country is a neutral party in the Russia-Ukraine war, to the dismay of Western nations who have sanctioned Moscow. But now, it seems, Trump has lost his patience – demanding that Modi finally pick a side, and using India's continued purchases of cheap Russian oil as leverage in his trade war. The conundrum pits Trump and Modi, two nationalist leaders who have often described their friendship in warm terms, increasingly against each other. On Monday, Trump vowed in an interview with CNBC to 'substantially' raise tariffs on India 'over the next 24 hours' because it's still buying Russian oil. It's not clear what the new tariff rate would be – or why he is now taking issue with something India has done for years. But the fresh threat comes after he had already announced a minimum 25% tariff on goods coming from India last week. 'Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!' Trump wrote on Truth Social last week. But for Modi, it's not so simple. While many other countries have scrambled to strike trade deals with the Trump administration, India – the world's fourth largest economy – has pushed back defiantly, saying it is being unfairly targeted and calling the measure 'unjustified.' The US and Europe, it pointed out, still trade with Russia on other products such as fertilizers and chemicals. Here's what you need to know about why India is reluctant to stop buying Russian oil. India has long been reliant on Russia for crude oil to support its booming economy and growing population, now at more than 1.4 billion people. The world's most populous nation is already the third biggest consumer of oil globally, and with India's consumption rate still growing rapidly, it is expected to surpass China by 2030, according to Reuters. India's transformation into an economic superpower has uplifted millions of households – which in turn have bought more cars and motorcycles, driving up the demand for gasoline. Russian crude oil accounts for 36% of India's overall imports, making Moscow the country's top supplier, according to Muyu Xu, a senior oil analyst at trade intelligence firm Kpler, who cited figures for the first six months of this year. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, European nations largely stopped buying Russian oil. It now flows primarily into Asia – with China, India and Turkey among Russia's big clients and is a vital revenue stream for Moscow. Delhi is buying Russian oil at a heavy discount, 'which otherwise would not have been given by the traditional oil and gas suppliers,' said Amitabh Singh, associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University's (JNU) Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies. He added that India's continuing purchases were 'a purely economic or commercial decision' – something Indian authorities have also argued, but which has been met with derision and anger from Ukraine and its supporters. While India has diversified its oil sources over the years, cutting out Russian oil entirely would leave a gaping hole that's hard to replace. India imports 80% of its oil needs, and its domestic oil production isn't enough to make up the difference. OPEC, the coalition of the world's top oil producers, may have 'some spare capacity, but it's difficult to ask them to pump 3.4 million barrels overnight,' said Xu when she spoke to CNN in July, referring to Russia's daily seaborne exports. Its choices have also been limited by other US actions – India was forced to stop buying oil from Iran and Venezuela after Trump imposed sanctions and threatened tariffs against countries that bought from those places. Before it halted its purchases, India had been one of Iran's biggest clients, buying up to 480,000 barrels per day, according to Reuters. 'We have our hands tied at the back,' said Singh. 'There is very limited space in which the Indian oil economy or market can operate.' For now, he added, it's unlikely Delhi will bow to Trump's demands. Modi's administration will continue navigating trade talks with the US and explore the 'traditional route' of Middle Eastern oil while it works to wean itself off Russian crude – but this it 'cannot do overnight,' said Singh. Russia's oil also feeds India's economy, which plays a key role in the global oil trade. India argues that its purchases from Russia have kept global oil prices lower, as it's not competing with Western nations for Middle Eastern oil. When the Ukraine-Russia war kicked off during the Biden administration, 'everyone knew that India is buying oil from Russia,' said Singh – but added that Western nations had tolerated it 'because they knew that if India is not buying oil from Russia, then inflation will go up.' If India switches to importing oil from somewhere else at a higher cost, American consumers will likely feel the hit, too. Some of the Russian crude oil sent to India is then refined and exported back out to other countries – because sanctions on Moscow don't include products refined outside Russia. It's a loophole that has benefited both India's economy and other recipient nations. In 2023, India exported $86.28 billion in refined oil products, making it the world's second-biggest exporter of petroleum products, according to the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR). Some of the biggest buyers of these refined products, made from Russian crude oil, include Europe, the US, and the UK, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). The independent organization has urged G7 nations to close this loophole, arguing it would disincentivize third countries – like India – to import Russian crude. India and Russia's partnership goes beyond just oil and stretches back decades – another reason it's not so easy to dismantle. India was officially nonaligned during the Cold War between the US and the USSR. However, India began to lean towards the Soviet Union in the 1970s when the US began providing military and financial assistance to India's neighbor and longtime rival Pakistan. This was when Russia started providing arms to India. In recent years, India has drawn closer to Washington, and ramped up arms purchases from America and its allies, including France and Israel. Still, India remains the top recipient of Russian arms, according to SIPRI. And Modi remains friendly with Putin – even paying a controversial visit to Moscow last year, with the Russian president greeting his counterpart with a hug and personally driving him around. Trump and Modi, too, have previously hailed their friendship, with Trump declaring at a 2019 rally that India had 'never had a better friend as President than President Donald Trump.' Singh, the professor, said it was expected the friendship 'would continue' when Trump arrived at the White House for his second term. But things have soured this time around; India isn't happy with Trump claiming credit for a ceasefire in the latest India-Pakistan conflict, or with his accusations that their oil purchases are helping 'prop up a Russian war machine,' he said. Trump has lashed out too, increasingly frustrated at his inability to end the Ukraine-Russia war – something he'd promised to do on his first day in office. 'I don't care what India does with Russia,' Trump wrote in an irate post on Truth Social last week. 'They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.'
