Ukraine’s New General Faces 14,000 Cheap Russian Missiles After a Year of Ignoring Drone Tech
Ukraine’s new military chief must counter Russia’s growing arsenal of cheap missiles and drone technology while managing internal politics, as a presidential adviser warns of a coming “small catastrophe.”
KYIV — Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi, 43, has taken charge at a critical moment. While praised for his battlefield performance, his biggest challenge is not at the front — it is stopping Russia’s new technological advantage while navigating internal politics to survive in the role [248231].
A Ukrainian presidential adviser has warned of a coming “small catastrophe” after a year of ignoring one Russian drone-control technology. The new Geran-5 drone now uses this system, and the adviser says the next threat will come from space — and it will be worse [247309].
Russia’s new deadly weapon is not a better missile. It is a cheap, air-launched missile built in the early 1990s, experts say. The Dan-T is designed to be fired by the thousand, adding to the drones and missiles already straining Ukraine’s air defense [247306]. Russia reportedly possesses 14,000 of these cheap missiles [247306].
Meanwhile, Ukraine has fired a domestically made ballistic missile at Russia for the first time. It is a weapon Kyiv’s forces have long sought, and it could pose major problems for the Kremlin’s air defenses [246987].
On the ground, Russia fired ballistic missiles at the southern Ukrainian industrial cities of Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and Pavlohrad overnight, killing at least four people and wounding six, according to Oleksandr Hanzha, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. All casualties occurred in Dnipro, where people are still believed to be trapped under the rubble of a damaged industrial facility. The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed the attacks, saying they targeted Ukraine’s metals, chemicals, energy and arms industries [247109].