Russia Ramps Up Drone Attacks in Ukraine

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Facts

  • Ukrainian authorities said Friday that Russia launched a wave of nighttime drone and missile attacks across 10 of Ukraine's 24 regions, adding that Moscow had expanded the number of drones it uses in its routine overnight attacks as winter approaches. Kyiv's Air Force said it intercepted 24 of Russia's 38 Shahed drones as well as one Kh-59 cruise missile.1
  • Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said it unloaded '15 multiple-launch precision by weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles,' targeting Ukrainian 'missile and artillery armament depots, armament and military hardware storage facilities, and temporary deployment sites of Ukrainian troops, nationalists and foreign mercenaries.' It said it wiped out production sites of UAVs, naval drones, and groups of foreign instructors and mercenary soldiers.2
  • The Russian ministry reported that over the past week, it had eliminated over 755 Ukrainian troops and 15 armored vehicles in the Kupyansk area, 17 motor vehicles, 16 field artillery guns, and 2 multiple rocket launchers. It also eliminated 920 enemy troops and another 1,340 in the Krasny Liman and Donetsk areas respectively.2
  • As Russia ramps up its aerial attacks, Moscow on Thursday dismissed a new sanctions package imposed on it by the US. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that while the 'sanctions create additional problems,' they have 'adapted' to them and 'learned how to overcome them.'3
  • Both Russian and Ukrainian militaries are reportedly building up their munition stockpiles ahead of the new year, with both sides struggling to make progress along the 1.5K km (930-mile) frontline. As Kyiv is set to receive F-16 fighter jets from its Western allies, Russia is purchasing weapons from North Korea, Iran, and Belarus.1

Sources: 1ABC News, 2TASS and 3DW.

Narratives

  • Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by RT International. The ease with which Russia can destroy Ukrainian air strikes has been proven time and time again, and the same will be said once Kyiv receives its F-16 fighter jets. Based on how quickly Russia has taken out dozens of Ukrainian planes and more than a thousand of its drones, the elimination of F-16s will be a fairly straightforward military objective. There is no victorious future for the Western-backed Ukraine, only prolonged defeat and misery.
  • Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by Ukrinform. Despite Russia's talk about overwhelming Ukraine in the air, this war has come to a static pause, with both sides putting up equally impenetrable air defenses. Moscow has had just as hard a time breaking through the thousand-mile frontline as Kyiv, which means the underdog Ukraine has, before receiving the proper air power it needs, already stunted the supposedly stronger Kremlin.

Predictions