Russia to unleash Shahed drone attacks in August: Expert’s warning

Ukraine and the United Kingdom signed a long-term agreement for the supply of 5,000 air defense missiles for Thales systems, spanning 19 years. Anatoly Khrapchynskyi, deputy general director of a company producing electronic warfare equipment and a former Air Force officer, explained that this is driven by a significant threat from Russia, which continues to deploy a large number of aerial targets.

He made these remarks during a broadcast on Radio NV.

“There remains a serious threat from the enemy’s use of a large number of aerial assets, so we need to focus on solutions involving small anti-aircraft missile systems, which, for example, will help us address the problem of thousands of "Shahed"-type drones,” Khrapchynskyi noted.

He predicts that Russia may begin massive attacks using thousands of UAVs per day as early as August. The expert emphasizes that small anti-aircraft missiles are an effective solution for countering such targets. Khrapchynskyi explains that Shahed drones have a faint thermal signature and do not emit signals, making them difficult to intercept with traditional thermal or radar-guided missiles. Therefore, modernized systems capable of intercepting these drones are necessary. He cited 20,000 detonators sent to the Middle East as an example of systems that effectively countered Shaheds.

At the same time, Khrapchynskyi stresses the importance of localizing the production of such systems in Ukraine: “We still need to localize these capabilities directly in Ukraine. Not just order them or produce them somewhere for Ukraine, but actually transfer production capacities to Ukraine.”

He added that these production facilities should be moved underground to safer locations to reduce dependence on Western partners.