Ukrainian officials say one person was wounded after an overnight Russian drone swarm attack on the headquarters of the Ukrainian Army’s 72nd Brigade in the city of Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast, which sits just south of the capital.
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— IgorGirkin (@GirkinGirkin) October 5, 2022
Ukrainian officials have reported that a dozen drones were involved in the attack, in which they say six successfully struck and heavily damaged three buildings. The explosions resulted in several fires, which head of the regional military administration Oleksiy Kuleba said were extinguished by emergency services. Officials also noted that the drones were launched from Russian controlled areas in Ukraine’s south, where drone activity has increased around Kharkiv, Odessa, Kherson, and Mykolaiv over the past two weeks.
The drones in question are Iranian-made Shahed-136 loitering munitions, which Russian forces refer to as “Geran-2s.” These platforms are delta-wing style explosive drones, which has a suspected range of about 2,000km. The system was first used by Houthi rebels, who are armed by Iran, in Yemen starting in 2020. This July, United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN that Russian officials traveled to Iran several times to view Irainian drone platforms, reiterating previous claims that the US government has “information that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs.”
Iran dismissed his statements at the time, with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian telling La Republica newspaper that “We have various forms of cooperation with Russia, including in the sphere of defense, but we are not helping either side involved in the [Ukrainian] conflict because we are certain that it should be concluded.”
Iranian attack UAV Shahed-136, eliminated by the #UAarmy near Kupiansk, Kharkiv region.
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? @kms_d4k pic.twitter.com/M7sQ9PX1hJ— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 13, 2022
In September, Shahed-136’s were visually confirmed to be in Ukraine for the first time, with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense releasing photos of drone wreckage. Iran has still denied that it is supplying Russia with its drones and their use in Ukraine has been increasing since. The drones have primarily been used in swarms to attack static targets away from fighting such as military and government infrastructure, they have been used on the frontlines. Rodion Kugalin, the Ukrainian artillery Commander of the 92nd Brigade, reported that Shahed-136 drones destroyed four howitzers and two BTRs in Kharkiv during Ukraine’s September counter offensive. More recent strikes in Odessa and Kyiv have shown that Russia is likely probing Ukrainian air defenses in those areas to increase attacks. With significant amounts of jammers and anti-aircraft systems having been diverted to the frontlines, these attacks have come at a bit of a surprise. Looking at the first attacks in Odessa, Ukrainian forces resorted to using small arms fire in attempts to intercept the drones. Since then, anti-aircraft system use has been more prevalent when attempting to repel drone swarms, however, this has proven difficult as the drones ability to fly fast and low makes identification and interception difficult.
#Ukraine capital #Kyiv #Kiev under drone strike! Major military buildings been taken out! pic.twitter.com/RtrRM1BvsQ
— ?IFE News Agency? (@IFENewsAgency) October 5, 2022
Some of you may be asking: “Why would Russia need Iranian drones?” Taking a look at Russia and its military tactics, drones (more specifically combat drones) have largely remained underdeveloped and underutilized in combat operations unlike that of the United States for example. Russia has lagged behind on UCAV development in recent years, preferring manned air strike missions in previous combat engagements in Syria and now in Ukraine. The current war in Ukraine has shown Russia’s increased reliance on short range ISR drone platforms, such as the Orlan-10, for reconnaissance and adjusting artillery fire. We also saw the first instances of the Forpost-R UCAV being used, but in very limited capacity. Iran has an extensive array of UCAV and ISR drone platforms that Russia can utilize to increase battlefield effectiveness, such as the various Shahed and Mohajer models, which are now being used.
?? Burning barracks of the AFU 72nd mechanized brigade in Bila Tserkva, Kyiv region. The Ukrainian unit's permanent deployment point was hit during the night by a massive strike of Iranian Shahed-136 (aka "Geran-2") kamikaze UAVs. pic.twitter.com/uFOdQA0QvW
— Rybar in English (@rybar_en) October 5, 2022
