Russia’s New Jet Drones Are Wrecking Ukraine’s Air Defenses as Stocks Run Dry
Ukraine is running out of interceptor missiles as Russia’s new jet-powered drones overwhelm its air defenses, while Kyiv races to reverse-engineer captured Russian weapons and build a US-free missile shield with the Netherlands.
Ukraine’s air defense forces are running out of the weapons they need to stop Russia’s relentless bombing campaign, a senior officer has said, as Moscow’s new jet-powered drones radically change the war on the ground.
“We have run out of everything,” said Hennadij Redko, an officer at the air defense staff in eastern Ukraine [5]. He said the Kremlin’s new jet drones have transformed the situation, making older Swedish Robot 70 missiles more critical than ever [5].
The supply crisis comes as Ukrainian specialists recovered a Russian cruise missile that fell almost intact in the Odesa region [1]. The weapon has a box-shaped body, a V-tail and a composite skin, and its design does not match its name, giving Ukrainian experts a rare chance to study Russia’s new missile design up close [1].
Ukraine has also discovered that Russia’s Geran drones are equipped with a compass that keeps working even when GPS signals are jammed, revealing how Moscow is adapting its weapons to beat electronic warfare [2]. Western electronics remain at the core of those drones, and Ukraine is studying a new jamming device whose results will feed into its sanctions work [2].
Ukrainian intelligence has separately identified 30 foreign-made components in Russian weapons plants, 17 of them manufactured outside China, suggesting Russia’s missile production relies on equipment from seven countries [3]. Chinese-made machines in those plants reportedly contain European, Japanese and Taiwanese parts, highlighting how foreign technology keeps reaching Russia’s defense industry despite international sanctions [3].
On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces may have already crossed the Zherebets River in eastern Ukraine, according to two independent mappers who place Ukrainian troops on the river’s eastern bank this week, including at Terny [4]. The move, if confirmed, marks a risky gamble for Kyiv, exposing its troops to potential Russian counterattacks beyond a natural barrier [4].
Kyiv is also working to shore up its arms supplies. Ukraine can now buy weapons directly through NATO’s procurement agency after Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara signed an agreement giving Ukraine a single entry point into 45 weapons programs, with Ukrainian firms also able to bid for NATO tenders [6].
And Ukraine and the Netherlands are jointly developing a missile defense system that Europe can deploy without US approval, focused on intercepting incoming ballistic missiles mid-flight [7]. Whether Ukraine can afford such a system remains an open question [7].