Russia ramps up jet-powered drone strikes: Ihnat reveals enemy’s objective

Russia is ramping up jet drone strikes to drain Ukraine’s limited air defense missiles, Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said on 5 Kanal.

According to Ihnat, the occupiers now deploy these jet-powered UAVs alongside traditional kamikaze drones almost 24/7. Reaching speeds of up to 500 km/h, they outpace Ukraine’s own interceptor drones, which max out at around 300 km/h.

«These drones are out of reach for our interceptor UAVs. Therefore, we can no longer rely on mobile fire teams or anti-drone UAVs here. We have to engage them with missiles, which is exactly what the Air Force and other branches of the Defense Forces are doing,» Ihnat explained.

He noted that Ukraine is forced to expend its highly valued air defense missiles to neutralize these jet-powered threats despite limited stockpiles. Even so, Ukraine’s interception rate remains high, consistently exceeding 90%.