Russia Firing Record Number Of Shahed-136s At Ukraine

Russian forces are launching about 10 times as many Shahed-136 drones against Ukraine as they did last fall, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram Monday .

Moscow "has ramped up drone strikes on Kyiv and the rest of the country, while decreasing the use of more powerful and harder-to-intercept cruise and ballistic missiles," the Kyiv Independent reported . "We must fully counter them," Zelensky said following the meeting with top Ukrainian officials.

On Nov. 3, the Ukrainian Air Force said that Russia "attacked with one Kh-59/69 guided air missile from the airspace of the Kursk region and 96 Shahed drones.

Meanwhile, as they increase their use of Shahed drones, the Russians are "stockpiling missiles and have begun to use more decoys," according to Ukrainian military and political analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko.

"In total, over the past month, the enemy used 84 missiles of various types, which is almost two times less than in September (151)," he stated on Telegram . "At the same time, 15 were intercepted (versus 48 missiles in September)."

Last month, "the Russian occupiers did not carry out massive missile strikes on Ukraine – as, in general, in September," he noted. "But there were regular single strikes – with frequent use of Kh-59/69 and 9M723 missiles."

During October, "not a single launch of the 9M728 Iskander-K OTRK [cruise missile] was recorded, while the enemy regularly used the 9M723 Iskander-M/KN-23 OTRK [ballistic missiles]," Kovalenko added, noting that there was a similar pause in the use of Kh-101/555 air-launched cruise missiles and the Kalibr sea-launched cruise missiles.

"But this does not mean that the Russian occupation forces have run out of them, but indicates their accumulation," he posited.

Russia is very likely saving its missiles for massive attacks on Ukraine's already-imperiled electrical grid during the cold winter months when they will have the most effect on morale.

Zelensky pointed out that there are a large amount of foreign components in these drones.

"Such a massive number of Shaheds requires over 170,000 individual components that should have been blocked from reaching Russia," Zelensky commented. "They come from companies in China, Europe, and America—lots of small but constant contributions to Russia's terror." This ongoing supply chain "highlights, yet again, the urgent need for the world to step up export controls on special components and resources," he added. "Russia must not be allowed to circumvent sanctions that were imposed long ago in response to this war. Sanctions must increase and be effective. Every scheme to bypass sanctions is a crime against people and the world. These very schemes also enable Russia to strengthen regimes in Iran and North Korea. This is a global threat, and only global, unified pressure can overcome it."

Last month, Russians used 2,023 "Shahed" drones as well as those "of an unspecified type" on civilian and military facilities in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff claimed on Telegram last week . "Of them, 1,185 were destroyed/suppressed by Ukrainian defenders and another 29 UAVs left the controlled airspace of our country. In general, since the beginning of 2024, the enemy launched 6,987 attack UAVs on the territory of Ukraine. Mostly enemy drones targeted the civilian and critical infrastructure of Ukraine."

While having 29% of all long-range one-way attack launched at Ukraine this year fired in the past month is a stunning figure, Kovalenko suggested that number also included some decoys.

The "professionalism and skill of the servicemen of the Defense Forces" saved "thousands of lives of our people from the Russian air terror, to protect hundreds of homes of Ukrainian citizens and important state objects from destruction," the General Staff explained.

Overnight into Monday, Russia launched 80 Shaheds, according to Ukrainian Member of Parliament Lesia Vasylenko.

"This is just one night guys," she emphasized.

Several videos have emerged on social media showing recent Shahed attacks on Ukraine. The following video shows one flying over Kyiv on Nov. 2.

This one purports to show a Shahed being intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses over Kyiv.

In September, Ukrainian air defenses shot down a Shahed attack drone that was fitted with the SpaceX company's Starlink equipment, the Ukrainian Defense Express news outlet reported.

"Starlink can be needed by the enemy in order to transmit intelligence, for example, collected by radio equipment regarding the positions of Ukrainian air defense," the publication surmised. "Or, in the case of equipping the drone with cameras – images. And thanks to Starlink, the Russian Federation can use Shahed as an extremely long-range [drone] with the possibility of reconnaissance, due to an additional camera, and defeat even moving targets."

The use of enhanced Shaheds to hunt and kill even moving targets far behind the front lines is something we first discussed back in February .

We contacted SpaceX for comment and will update this story with any pertinent response provided.

As we previously reported , Russia is using densely packed waves of Shaheds to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses. Now one of Russia's new long-range Gerbera drones , likely serving as a decoy during a mass Shahed drone attack, was captured on video being intercepted by a Ukrainian drone.

Like the Shahed, the new drone has a relatively large delta wing, although with prominently cranked leading edges. Rather than vertical stabilizers on the wingtips as on the Geran, the Gerbera has a conventional single vertical tailfin, located just ahead of the single pusher propeller driven by an internal combustion engine.

Czech-supplied Mi-24V Hind helicopter gunships in Ukrainian service have reportedly been hunting Shahed drones for the last few months. The Hinds have been downing them with 12.7mm rotary cannon fire. The following image shows one sporting nine drone air-to-air kill marks. While Ukraine is turning to helicopters, drone-hunting planes and mobile drone-hunting teams , it is still forced to use a large amount of precious missile interceptors in these drone waves, something that is in finite supply.

Ukraine's State Security Bureau (SBU) detained a 72-year-old scientist from Kharkiv who helped the Russians to improve Shahed drones, the agency announced on Telegram .

"Counter-intelligence of the Security Service detained an enemy henchman who worked for the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation in Kharkiv," SBU claimed. "He turned out to be a 72-year-old scientist-mechanic who, on the order of the Rashists, developed drawings for the improvement of Shahed-type kamikaze drones. In particular, he worked on the modernization of engines and catapult installations."

According to the investigation, "the suspect remotely transferred technological developments to his acquaintance, the general director of one of the Russian machine-building plants, which produces units for drones."

Since 2023, that company has "been closely cooperating with the Russian company, which is engaged in the production of shock drones of the 'Shahed' type, which the Russians label under the name 'Geran-2.'"

The suspect "used e-mail and a popular messenger to communicate with Russian accomplices. At the same time, he disguised cooperation with the occupiers under the guise of preparing scientific papers in the field of UAVs," SBU avered. "As the investigation established, the scientist involved in the project worked with his former student, who fled from Kharkiv Oblast to the Russian Federation at the beginning of the full-scale war. There he got a job at the Moscow University of Technology, where he develops drones for the Russian Armed Forces."

During the search, "computer equipment, a mobile phone and flash drives with evidence of subversive activities in favor of the Russian Federation were seized from him," according to SBU.

The suspect "is in custody. He faces 12 years in prison with confiscation of property."

Initially, Russia received its Shahed drones from Iran. Last month, Ukraine said it hit a warehouse storing about 400 Shaheds that exploded in the attack, according to Radio Liberty .

Earlier this year, we told you about the new factory in Russia producing Shaheds. The increasing waves of these drones used to attack Ukraine may be an indication of that facility's output. What remains unclear is what components are still be sourced through Iran and if Israel's air strikes would hamper the delivery of those subsystems if they are indeed still coming from Iran.

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On the battlefield, Russian forces continue to press deeper into Ukrainian defenses. The latest Institute for the Study of War ( ISW ) assessment offers details about these advances.

The first North Korean troops have already come under fire in Russia's Kursk region, Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation department at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, stated on Telegram Monday .

He provided no details or any visual proof. Ryder on Monday said he could not corroborate that or the veracity of an image showing a North Korean soldier reportedly killed in action in Kursk which you can see below.

There are about 10,000 North Korean troops currently in Kursk, Ryder said. That's an increase from the 7,200 Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate, told us were there last week . Pyongyang, as we were the first to report , has sent some 12,000 troops to aid Russia's fight against Ukraine, according to Budanov.

In another sign of the burgeoning Moscow-Pyongyang relationship, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui in the Kremlin on Monday, Moscow announced .

Choe has been in Russia for a week and has pledged that North Korea would stand by Russia until its "victory" in Ukraine, according to The Moscow Times .

"President Putin received the foreign minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Choe Son Hui," the Kremlin said in a statement, publishing a video of the pair shaking hands ahead of talks.

That statement comes on the heels of one Choe made last week, saying: "From the very beginning of the war, our esteemed comrade Kim Jong-un instructed us to consistently and powerfully support and assist the Russian army in their holy war."

The presence of so many North Korean troops in Russia has sparked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for greater intelligence sharing with South Korea.

"There is only one conclusion," Zelensky said he told South Korean President Yun Seok-yeol on Sunday. "This war is internationalized and goes beyond the borders of two states."

In addition, the two leaders "agreed to strengthen the exchange of intelligence and expertise, to intensify contacts at all levels, including the highest, in order to develop an action strategy and a list of countermeasures in response to escalation," Zelensky stated.

In addition, he called for both nations "to involve mutual partners in cooperation. Within the framework of this agreement, Ukraine and the Republic of Korea will soon exchange delegations to coordinate actions."

Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Russian forces "have trained the North Korean soldiers in artillery operations, unmanned aerial vehicle operations and basic infantry tactics to include trench clearing."

The Kremlin, he added, "has also provided these [North Korean] troops with Russian uniforms and equipment, and all of that strongly indicates that Russia intends to use these foreign forces in frontline operations in its war of choice against Ukraine."

"Make no mistake," Austin posited. "If these North Korean troops engage in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine, they would make themselves legitimate military targets," the secretary said.

Just days after complaining that Ukraine has received only 10% of the military aid promised by allies, President Volodymyr Zelensky offered some positive news on that front.

"There are important developments in the matter of supply from partners for the front – we are recording an increase in supply according to support packages," Zelensky said Monday on Telegram . "The results in the supply of artillery became better."

Zelensky's latest comments on foreign aid came after the Pentagon on Friday announced additional security assistance . This is the 69th tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021 under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA).

Among many other items, the package, which has an estimated value of $425 million, provides 200 Stryker armored vehicles . That doubles the previous U.S. commitment.

The capabilities in this announcement include:

U.S.-donated Bradley Fighting Vehicles have proven their value on the battlefield, destroying enemy vehicles and positions and protecting occupants from incoming fire. The video below shows one Bradley firing a munition from it dual-tube BMG-71 TOW (Tube-Launched, Optically Tracked, Wireless-Guided) missile launcher in Kursk.

However, another U.S.-donated Abrams M1 main battle tank was captured by the Russians. As you can see in the video below, it was largely intact. According to the Oryx open-source tracking group , this is at least the second Abrams captured by Russia. That figure could be higher because Oryx only tabulates losses for which it has visual confirmation. Of 31 Abrams provided to Ukraine, at least 16 have been destroyed, damaged, damaged and abandoned, or captured, Oryx reports.

Ukraine's defense industry is making significant strides toward domestic weapons production, with plans to manufacture its own cruise and ballistic missiles by mid-2025, said Oleksii Petrov, the director of the Ukrainian enterprise Spetstechnoexport, the Ukrainian Euromaidan Press reported . The company specializes in export and import of military and dual-purpose products and services globally.

Petrov revealed that flight tests of these weapons are already underway.

A Ukrainian Ukrainian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter is seen in the following video launching eight U.S.-made GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) at Russian positions. The Russians were preparing an attack at the time, according to the Ukrainian Sunflower Telegram channel which posted the video.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the U.S. and allies against allowing Ukraine to use donated weapons deep into Russia. More than just permission, Putin said it would require satellite data and other intelligence sources that Ukraine does not have.

"Naturally, we'll have to appropriately respond to that," he said, according to Russia's South African Embassy. "How exactly, where and when – it's still too early to say. But of course our Defense Ministry is thinking about it, and will offer various options."

Canada, meanwhile, is pushing for Western allies to allow Ukraine to use its donated weapon deep into Russia.

Speaking in Montreal following the conference on Ukraine's Peace Formula, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly expressed support for Ukraine's use of Western long-range weapons against targets in Russia, Ukrinform reported on Monday.

"We agree with the use of long-range weapons by Ukraine on Russian targets," Joly said, emphasizing that this capability was necessary for Ukraine's self-defense.

Canada currently does not provide Ukraine with long-range missiles, the publication noted.

A key U.S. provider of drones to Ukraine is facing a serious supply chain issue due to Chinese sanctions.

Skydio, the US's largest drone maker "and a supplier to Ukraine's military, faces a supply chain crisis after Beijing imposed sanctions on the company, including banning Chinese groups from providing it with critical components," Financial Times reported . Skydio "is rushing to find alternative suppliers after Beijing's move, which also blocks battery supplies from its sole provider," according to the publication, which cited people familiar with the situation. "The drone maker has sought help from the Biden administration. Chief executive Adam Bry last week met US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and held discussions with senior officials at the White House."

Suffering heavy battlefield losses, Russia is charging its convicting citizens of weaseling their way out of service at numbers unseen in nearly a decade, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry (MoD).

"Convictions on treason charges in Russia are at the highest level in at least nine years," the MoD explained. There have been more convictions in the first six months of this year than all of 2024, MoD explained. "Similarly, there has been significant growth in convictions under criminal s relating to extremism and terrorism, the MoD added.

There are unconfirmed reports of the crash of a Russian Su-34 Fullback that killed its crew.

"Eternal flight," stated the Russian Don't_Stop_War Telegram channel .

The channel blamed a malfunction, not enemy fire.

"Su-34, Technical malfunction," it suggested.

The War Zone cannot independently verify that claim.

In May, Sweden announced a military aid package to Ukraine that included its entire fleet of PvB 302 tracked armored personnel carriers (APC). They are armed with a 20-mm automatic HS804 cannon and a 7.62 mm Ksp 58 machine gun.

On Friday, the Ukrainian Ground Forces announced those vehicles are now in service and offered an assessment of their performance. They lauded its comparatively easy handling and ability to maneuver over rough terrain.

Zelensky chided the White House for releasing what he said was confidential information about a request for Tomahawk Land Attack cruise missiles.

"Tomahawk: It was confidential information between Ukraine and White House," he said. "How to understand these massages? So, it means, between partners there is no confidential things!"

Zelensky also said India can play a role in ending the war.

"It should only be in accordance with our format, because the war is on our land. We have a platform – the Peace Summit," Zelensky told The Times of India in an exclusive interview.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi "can influence the end of the war," he added. "Today, neutrality means support for Russia."

Poland's Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski shot back at Zelensky's criticism that Warsaw wasn't supplying Kyiv with the full tranche of promised MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters or shooting down missiles over his country.

"In proportion to GDP, Poland has done more for Ukraine than any other country," Sikorski told reporters . "Russia is also threatening us and not everything is possible."

A day earlier, Zelensky complained that Poland was not living up to its commitment to provide the Fulcrums.

"We agreed on this, but after that, did Poland give us the planes? No. Was there another reason? Yes," Zelensky said without providing further details, according to the Kyiv Independent .

"Zelensky added that Ukraine has 'constantly asked' Poland to shoot down Russian missiles flying in its direction, particularly to protect the gas storage facility in the town of Stryi in Ukraine's Lviv Oblast, located nearly 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of the Ukrainian-Polish border," the publication added.

"We do not have the appropriate number of (air defense) systems to protect the gas storage facility. What about the Poles? Are they shooting it down? No. The Poles said we are ready to shoot down if we are not alone in this decision; if NATO supports us."

Meanwhile, Poland has started building defensive lines on the border with Russia as part of the "East Shield" initiative, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Nov. 1.

Presented this May, the program "aims to fortify Poland's borders with Belarus, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad," the Kyiv Independent reported . "It includes a mix of new physical barriers, modern surveillance systems, and infrastructure development.

The program "is part of NATO's eastern flank joint regional defense infrastructure plan that Poland is carrying out with the Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia," the publication reported. "Warsaw allocated a total of 10 billion złoty ($2.5 billion) to strengthen the borders with Russia and Belarus to deter aggression."

Russia is running out of tanks, according to the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper .

" The open source platform Oryx comes on a total of 3505 battle tanks that have been destroyed, damaged or left behind since the beginning of the war," the publication noted. "That is more than four times as many tanks as France, Great Britain, and Germany have in their stocks together."

Russia can only produce "about 225 new tanks per year (2024-2025)," FAZ reported. "Satellite imagery analysis of 16 Russian tank depots" shows its reserve stocks diminishing, from about 6,300 in 2021 to about 3,600 by the middle of this year.

"Russia is increasingly using older tank models," posited FAZ. "Some T-54 tanks (post-WW2 design) have been seen at the front. Modern T-90 tanks are no longer visible in storage depots."

The appearance of the T-54s on the battlefield is something we first reported in April 2023.

A Russian company claims to have developed the first portable drone interceptor fired from a rifle-like device. The video below shows an operator using the system's sensor to guide it to the target drone. It's not clear what advantage this gun-like system has instead of just hand-launching the drone, but the guidance system could help with engaging drones at night.

In another iteration of drone-on-drone warfare development, a Ukrainian first-person view (FPV) drone is seen in the following video dueling with and eventually destroying a Russian drone unsuccessfully trying to evade it with an onboard detection system.

Ukraine is developing technology to allow aerial drones to fly in synch, Herman Smetanin, Ukraine's Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, announced last week on Telegram .

"Together, the Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine with Brave1, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Digital, the General Staff, the National Guard conducted demonstration tests of new Ukrainian developments – swarms of drones and guided munitions," Smetanin announced.

All told there were 17 producer teams, seven of which "presented their developments in drone swarm technology, 10 – guided munition," he said. "These solutions were at different stages of readiness and showed different approaches to problem-solving."

While this office is working on several products, "quality must come first," Smetanin proffered. "Defense must supply the military with innovative solutions that the Defense Forces really need now and in the near future. The most effective, up-to-date products designed for the conditions in which military operations take place."

There are claims that Ukraine is using FPV drones equipped with magnetic mines to attack Russian vehicles at a distance of between 12km and 15km (7.4 miles to 9.3 miles).

"They land on the side of the road and are detonated by a magnetic contactless sensor," according to the Russia No Context Telegram channel . The Russian Bukhanka truck seen in the video below "was lucky that it drove fast enough."

In order to better take down Russian Orlan reconnaissance drones, the Ukrainian drone engineering company Vinnytsky Bdzholy announced the completion of government testing for their new FPV drone, the Flamingo VB140. It is an interceptor designed to defend Ukrainian airspace from Russian reconnaissance drones like Orlan, according to the official Ukrainian United24 media outlet.

The VB140 Flamingo "is capable of operating up to 4.5 kilometers (nearly 15,000 feet) in altitude with a range of up to 50 kilometers (more than 31 miles)," company CEO Andriy Oleksyuk claimed.

The Ukrainian 128th Separate Mountain Assault Transcarpathian Brigade released a compilation video of its FPV drones destroying Russian tanks, armored personnel carriers, trucks and infantry during a reportedly unsuccessful assault attempt.

A battle between a Russian drone and a Ukrainian drone using a net capture device can be seen in the following video. It shows the Ukrainian drone approaching the Russian one and then firing a net in Spiderman fashion. The DoD is looking at a similar system for domestic drone defense.

In yet another effort to keep drones from destroying their armor, Russia is beginning to use steel cables on its tanks that are placed in such a manner that the drones' shaped charges detonate before causing any real catastrophic damage. The cables resemble dreadlocks.

A U.K.-donated Brimstone truck-mounted anti-armor system is seen in the following video firing three of its precision-guided munitions at the Russians. It is unclear how many targets were engaged or the level of damage, if any, was caused. As we previously reported , this system emerged on the battlefield early in this conflict and the latest video shows Ukraine continues to rely on it.

Satellite images confirm damage caused by a Ukrainian drone attack that struck a military training facility in Chechnya late last month. The raid, which appears to be the first of its kind to hit the southern Russian republic, is one of the longest-range drone strikes that Ukraine has attempted. The target was a special forces training center, but the attack also carries significant symbolic value, due to the high level of support of local strongman Ramzan Kadyrov for Russia's war in Ukraine.

A comparison of those images taken before and after the attack by American Enterprise Institute senior media associate Brady Africk shows the extent of the damage.

A few weeks back, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry posted a video of one of its tanks pummeling a Russian armored personnel carrier at close range. Another view emerged in which one of the Russians inside that vehicle recounted being abandoned by his comrades and later rescued by Ukrainians.

Rare video of a U.S.-donated Switchblade 600 loitering munition in action was released. It purportedly shows one striking a Russian Tor-M2 air defense system.

Likely frightened by the sound of an approaching Ukrainian drone, a Russian soldier ended his life by suicide. Warning, the following video is extremely graphic.

And finally, the warm days of summer are already giving way to Ukraine's harsh winter. The following video shows the first snowfall in the Kharkiv region.

That's it for now.

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