Russia ramps up destructive drone strikes on Ukrainian cities
Russia is using a new version of Shahed-136 drones with 200-pound warheads for attacks on Ukraine, reports UNITED24 Media, which is associated with the authorities in Kyiv. Ukrainians acknowledge that this is a dangerous and very effective weapon.
Russia has initiated attacks on Ukrainian cities using upgraded Shahed-136 drones, which carry nearly twice the explosive load as the basic versions of these machines. According to UNITED24 Media, these drones, originally designed in Iran, are being mass-produced in Russia and are continually modified to challenge Ukrainian air defenses. Ukrainians have already examined these machines and claim that they pose a significant challenge for the defenders.
New Shahed-136 drones
The upgraded Shahed-136 drones are equipped with 200-pound warheads, a significant increase compared to earlier versions that had 110-pound warheads. Increasing the explosive load from 62 pounds to 137 pounds makes them significantly more destructive and effective. However, to accommodate the heavier load, Russian engineers had to reduce the flight range of these drones from 840 miles to about 400 miles.
Tests of the new Shahed-136 series began as early as 2023, and within six months, Russia launched about 30 drones at Ukrainian cities to assess their effectiveness, which, according to Ukrainian reports, is already quite high. If the version with the 200-pound warhead proves successful, Russia plans to increase orders to 1,000 units of this weapon.
Intensification of attacks
The production of Shahed drones in Russia has significantly accelerated recently. From January to mid-June 2024, Moscow launched 2,277 drones, and between August and October 2024, this number increased to 4,300 units. In October alone, Russia used over 2,000 specimens of these autonomous machines.
The aggressor plans to continue intensive production of Shahed drones in 2025, which may pose further threats to Ukrainian infrastructure and its civilian population. The production includes various variants of drones, including those with thermobaric and shrapnel-incendiary warheads.
