The Russians understand where our air defence systems are located to bypass them – Skibitsky

The occupiers are now combining missiles with drones, carrying out strikes in several stages, thus increasing the load on Ukrainian air defense.

This was stated by Vadym Skibitsky, Deputy Chief of the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

"Firstly, the strikes have become combined. Secondly, both the Russians and we have learned to plan strikes effectively, while using fewer missiles and unmanned aerial systems to achieve the maximum result. Thirdly, priority targets are chosen, destruction of which will have the greatest effect," he said.

According to him, the strikes are not just combined – they are coordinated in time: missiles come first, followed by drones, then more missiles. This overloads the air defence system. The Russians understand our capabilities, know where our air defence systems are located – in order to bypass them.

He explains that if earlier there were indeed 70 missiles launched, they all followed the same route: entering through Luhansk region and heading straight towards Kyiv – now such a pattern can no longer be seen. Missiles come from any direction, flying across Ukrainian territory, bypassing all air defense means and regions, and attempting to reach their targets.

"Therefore, it has become much more difficult. Now we need to maneuver air defence forces and resources. Secondly, we understand when the Russians conduct reconnaissance of targets and what objects they are observing. After a strike, they immediately conduct additional reconnaissance and within a short period, they strike again. This is essentially the mopping-up of targets they did not hit with the first and second strikes," he said.

Skibitsky emphasized that, at the same time, "when they used to launch 70 missiles, the effectiveness was not always high. Our air defence system worked very well when it had a sufficient number of anti-aircraft missiles. Moreover, I repeat, those were simple, straight-line strikes. Now, it is something entirely different."

He also noted that, while previously they could use 20-30 drones in a single strike, now they are using 150. This approach from the enemy requires completely different attention from the air defense system and puts a significantly higher load on it. Earlier, they launched drones late in the evening, and they would reach their targets by morning. Now, they can launch drones starting in the morning. The latest trend is the launch of drones in the evening, which start reaching targets on our territory from 11 p.m. until the early morning. This means it is now continuous, which increases the level of the existing threat.

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