(Dan Tri) – Ukraine believes that Russia is preparing for a record-scale unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attack campaign to destroy Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in the winter.
Ukrainian air defense system intercepts Russian missiles in Kiev (Photo: Reuters).
Reuters quoted Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat as saying that in September alone, Russia used more than 500 Shahed UAVs in raids on Ukraine.
He cited a comparison: in last year’s raid campaign, Russia used about 1,000 Shahed UAVs within 6 months to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in the winter.
Ukraine and the West believe that Russia applied the tactic of raiding the enemy’s energy infrastructure in the cold winter to weaken Kiev’s morale and force Ukraine to make concessions.
Meanwhile, Russia then explained that its attacks were intended to weaken Ukraine’s ability to send soldiers, weapons, and military equipment to the front lines.
Late last month, Andrii Yusov, an official with the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Agency, said Russian forces were conducting reconnaissance of Ukraine’s energy facilities.
`There is information that the enemy is carrying out reconnaissance activities on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and is capable of repeating attacks against those targets,` he said.
The Ukrainian side also believes that Russia will mainly use UAVs for large-scale raids for reasons of low cost and because its missile inventory has not been restored after more than a year of conflict.
Ukrainian officials affirmed that they were more carefully prepared to deal with Russia’s winter raid campaign.
However, the country’s leaders also warned that although Ukraine has strengthened its air defense system, the risk of widespread power shortages like last year could still repeat because the national power system has not fully recovered.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict is about to reach the 600-day mark, but there is no sign of abating.
On the Eastern front, Russia is said to be trying to stop the advance of Ukrainian forces north of Bakhmut by sending more reinforcements.
According to observers, Moscow is trying to prolong the conflict until the West runs out of steam and turns its back on Ukraine.
Instead of trying to achieve results quickly, the Russian military seems to be focusing on consolidating the territory it has won in Ukraine, said Marina Miron, a war expert at Imperial College London.
