Jet-powered drones threaten Kyiv's skies as winter nears
Part of composite article Russia's New Jet Drones Hit 800 kph as Ukraine Scrambles to Stop Them View full article →
Russia's newest drones are forcing Ukraine's civilian air defence teams to adapt fast. The jet-powered weapons are harder to track and shoot down than earlier models, and winter is coming.
Hours into Kyiv's nightly curfew, the capital is dark and quiet. On the roof of a grey tower block on the city's edge, a small group of uniformed men stand beside two heavy machine guns, scanning the horizon.
Soon, a drone appears. Once, its unmistakable buzz would have sent the men running to their weapons. Now, the crew checks speed and altitude on a monitor before deciding what to do.
The Mriya air defence crew watches the skies from a rooftop in Kyiv. Every night, they race to protect the city from Russia's latest weapons.