The Russians often change UAV routes.
Last night, Russian "Shahed" drones attacked Lviv region. Drones reach so far because Ukraine currently does not have enough air defense systems to cover the entire territory.
Military expert Pavlo Narozhny explained this in a commentary to RBC-Ukraine.
"What can shoot down a "Shahed"? They can be shot down by expensive systems such as Patriot, IRIS-T, or Soviet-era S-300 systems. However, this is very costly. Most drones are shot down with MANPADS, such as Stinger, Igla, and also with machine guns mounted on jeeps. They are also shot down by Gepard anti-aircraft systems and small arms. But it's unrealistic to cover the entire territory of Ukraine with such means," Narozhny explains.
Mobile fire groups move along routes where they believe drones might fly. However, the Russians constantly change these routes. For instance, they use riverbeds where a jeep cannot go.
"They also use areas where they have noticed the absence of air defense systems, or agents may relay information to them. Taking all this into account, they look for paths along which drones can move. Moreover, due to the range of these drones, from a technical point of view, the entire territory of Ukraine is at risk of such strikes, because the Russians launch "Shaheds" both from Crimea and other directions," the expert says.
In Lviv region, according to him, the Russians can target various infrastructures, particularly power generation facilities and electricity transmission systems.
"For example, gas storage facilities are definitely covered by some air defense systems. They hit it, and the next day they can strike an electricity generation node. On our side, we cannot remove air defense systems from the gas storage and transfer them to a frontline area," Narozhny says.
The expert emphasizes that the Russians aim to keep all Ukrainian air defense assets in their places and prevent them from being redeployed to another area where the occupiers are concentrating their attacks.
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