Russia launches historic drone assault on Ukraine anniversary
On the night of February 23 to 24, 2025, marking the third anniversary of the onset of the war in Ukraine, Russia conducted the largest drone attack since the conflict began, deploying 265 drones, as reported by the Defense Romania portal.
Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, confirmed that the Russians used a record number of drones for their attack on Ukraine. On the night of February 23 to 24, 2025, Russia deployed 265 machines.
Ukrainian air defense in action
During the attack, Ukrainian air defense forces managed to shoot down 138 drones. The remaining 119 drones, which Ignat described as decoys, disappeared without a trace and caused no damage. Ignat did not specify what happened to these remaining drones.
In response to the Russian attack, the Ukrainian army carried out its own drone operations on Russian territory. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that Russian air defense shot down 20 Ukrainian drones over six regions of the country.
The Ukrainians did not specify which particular drones, in such record numbers, struck Ukraine on the conflict's third anniversary. However, it is assumed that they were primarily the commonly used Shahed-136 drones.
Russians stockpile more and more drones
The Russian Federation's military has been following a strategy of accumulating drones over extended periods to unleash them in large numbers during single attacks. This was likely the case with the strike on February 23 to 24. To clarify, the Shaheds (known in Russia as Geran-2) have been recently upgraded. The Russians are now equipping them with 200-pound warheads, significantly larger than previous versions, which had warheads weighing about 110 pounds.
The increase in explosive payload enhances the Shaheds' effectiveness when striking their targets. However, the larger warhead size has reduced the Shaheds' range from 840 miles to 400 miles.
Intensification of strikes
Notably, the production of Shahed drones has significantly increased in recent months. In the first half of 2024, Moscow launched exactly 2,277 drones, whereas from August to October 2024, the total was about 4,300 units. In October alone, the Russian Federation launched over 2,000 Shahed drones.
