Key areas in southern Ukraine have come under attack from a number of Iran-supplied Shahed-136 ‘kamikaze’ or ‘suicide’ drones. It is by far the most high-profile and concentrated use of these types of weapons by Russian forces.
There has been sporadic use of the Shahed-136s suicide drones – which are small gas-powered flying wing types that can seek radar emissions or hit static targets, over the last couple of weeks – but now they are growing in volume.
Multiple videos show a number of Shahed-136 UAVs cutting across the Ukrainian city of Odessa’s airspace, although some are different angles of the same aircraft. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense’s official Twitter account responded to these developments by divulging that the Ukrainian Army had destroyed six of the Shahed-136 suicide drones launched by Russia but neglected to provide any further information.
The Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook claimed that anti-aircraft missile units of the Ukrainian Air Force shot down six Russian Shahed-136 suicide drones manufactured in Iran and one Russian Su-25 fighter jet on Friday, 23 September.
The Air Force Command also reported that Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile units also destroyed a Russian Su-25 fighter jet in Southern Ukraine.
Ukraine’s air defenses are directly threatened by the Shahed-136s, including those far to the west where only Russian cruise and ballistic missiles venture. The drones are capable of seeking the emissions of air defense radars and homing in on them, in addition to hitting stationary targets.
Sources: The War Zone; Facebook