Shahed offensive — what are the threats of massive shelling
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October has become one of the most difficult months for Ukraine, as the Russians have launched a record number of drones at Ukrainian cities. As winter approaches, Russia is using its drones to leave Ukrainians without electricity.
This was reported by Forbes.
Massive shelling of Ukraine
The article notes that in October, the Ukrainian Air Force shot down more than a thousand Russian drones. A report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission notes that last year, Russian attacks were focused on electricity transmission facilities, while this year there has been a prolonged attack on electricity generation facilities. By June, 73% of the country's thermal power units had been rendered inoperative.
"The strategic implications are hard to overstate. Russia’s ground offensive is crawling forward at tremendous cost in lives and equipment and will not deliver a decisive result. But damage to the power infrastructure, which according to the Washington Post could result in "20 hours of darkness or more a day in the depths of Ukraine’s frigid winter" could have far more impact in forcing Ukraine to negotiate on unfavorable terms," the publication reads.
Forbes notes that Ukraine needs more air defense systems and missiles to counter Russian air attacks and preserve its energy system.
In addition, the Russians are constantly modernizing their Shaheds and trying to find ways to make them more effective, which also complicates the task for the Ukrainian military.
"Many of the supposed Shaheds are not in fact the large, Iranian-designed drones now made in Russia, but much smaller drones with much smaller warheads which are included as decoys to distract and overwhelm Ukrainian defenses and deplete defensive ammunition," the article says.
For this purpose, there are special interceptors, but Ukraine does not have them in the right quantity. According to the publication, this is all a high-speed, high-stakes technological arms race. The question is whether the interceptors can be perfected and delivered quickly enough to counter the fence and save Ukraine from a dark, freezing winter, and whether Russia will then develop a countermeasure to the interceptors.
Last night alone, Russian troops fired two missiles, guided aerial bombs, and 79 Shaheds at Ukraine.
Kharkiv was hit particularly hard. It caused injuries and damage to civilian infrastructure.
