New terror tactic: Why Russia is stretching air raid alerts across the entire day

Russia is employing a new strategy of combined daytime drone and missile strikes. The enemy's primary goal is not only the physical destruction of infrastructure but also the complete paralysis of the Ukrainian economy and the psychological exhaustion of the population.

Dmytro Zhmailo, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Center, spoke about this for 24 Kanal.

The expert says Russia is trying to place Ukraine under near-continuous air raid alerts, disrupting business activity and keeping the population under constant stress.

"Russia produces about 400 drones per month and continues to increase its capacity. Simultaneously, the adversary wants to provoke outrage among Ukrainians over claims that interceptor drones were allegedly sent to the Middle East," Zhmailo explained.

This approach allows the enemy to methodically search for weak spots in the air defense system, counting on the fatigue of specialists working under extremely difficult conditions.

How Ukraine is fighting back

Despite the enemy's exhausting tactics, the Ukrainian side is actively adapting. A key element of the countermeasure has been the reform of "small" air defense. The number of mobile fire groups hunting "Shaheds" has at least doubled.

The expert noted that he personally witnessed the effective work of the sky defenders, with several units simultaneously engaging enemy targets. However, he emphasizes that human resources are not limitless, and specialists also need recovery after long shifts.

Strikes on non-typical targets and political pressure

Russia is no longer limited only to energy infrastructure. Now, facilities previously considered secondary targets may come under fire. This is part of a larger strategy to force Ukraine into peace on the Kremlin's terms.

"Russia is methodically looking for weak links: energy, heat supply, railways, food facilities—hitting where air defense coverage is thinner. So far, none of these targets have yielded results because Ukrainians adapt quickly. Russia is also constrained by a lack of launch sites, which Ukrainian forces regularly destroy. But attacks will continue because there are no serious successes at the front, so the enemy is betting on civilian terror," Zhmailo said.

Russia is also advancing narratives suggesting that ceding the occupied part of the Donetsk region could secure a ceasefire, with attacks on civilians intended to push Ukrainian society toward demanding territorial concessions.