Russia’s ‘suicide drone’ bombing offensive, threat floating over Ukraine

Ukrainian military shaken by Russian 'drone bombing', counterattack fails
Due to the threat of bombing, it is impossible to use vehicles, and procurement of materials and troops is difficult
Weapons come before troops, ‘modern warfare’ with cutting-edge technology

Russia’s ‘drone bombings’ are raining down on the Ukraine area. According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 8th (local time), the Ukrainian military is putting all its efforts into defense in most areas of the 1,000 km long front. This is due to the Russian military’s aggressive suicide drone offensive. Soldiers from the Ukrainian army’s mechanized brigade complained to the NYT, “When a bomb flies, it sounds like a jet plane falling,” and “It’s as if the gates of hell are opening.”

Ukrainian troops cower under heavy bombardment

As the Russian military increasingly escalates its offensive against Ukraine, the threat of Russian military ‘drone bombing’ is also growing stronger. The Ukrainian government and Western intelligence agencies have revealed that Russia has been using the Iranian Shahed-136 drone since the fall of last year. The drone, also called ‘Geranium-2’ in Russia, is designed to be equipped with explosives on its warhead and hover over the target until instructed to attack. It is known that the difficulty of response is quite high due to its relatively small size and difficulty in radar detection.

Russia’s use of the Shahed-136 drone was first reported on September 9 (local time) last year. At the time, the Russian military reportedly used drones to attack military targets in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine. Afterwards, news broke that drone bombings were raining down on military and civilian targets in the Kiev, Odessa, and Mykolaiv regions. The Ukrainian military was the first to start using modified commercial drones for military purposes, but now the Russian military is flying an overwhelming number of drones, imitating the Ukrainian military’s tactics.

It is known that Ukrainian soldiers are moving on foot instead of by car during operations to avoid the threat of drones. An attempt was made to counterattack with a suicide drone, but it was blocked by electronic interference and did not achieve much success. The Ukrainian military, which has been stranded by Russian drone attacks, is unable to properly supply troops and materials to the front line, and is also experiencing difficulties in evacuating the wounded. There are many analyzes suggesting that the cause of the recent failure of the counteroffensive was a Russian suicide drone.

Can we win if we pour out cutting-edge weapons? change in the landscape of war

Last summer, a document was leaked stating that Russia was pursuing mass production of Iranian self-destructive drones. At the time, the American daily Washington Post (WP) reported that a drone manufacturing facility the size of 800 soccer fields was built in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan, about 14 km east of Moscow, Russia. It is said that Iranian-made Shahed-136 suicide drones are being produced at the facility.

The leaked documents included factory blueprints and blueprints, personnel records, proposals sent to Iran, and presentation materials for the Russian Ministry of Defense. WP reported that Iran and Russia plan to produce 2025 Iranian-made suicide drones at the factory by September 9. The explanation was that 6,000 drones would first be manufactured using parts supplied by Iran in 2023, and a total of 1,932 drones would be manufactured using parts self-produced in Russia starting in 2024.

Russia, which actually mass-produced suicide drones, halted the Ukrainian military with subsequent bombings and succeeded in nullifying the counteroffensive operation. Some analysts say that Russia’s tactics suggest a ‘change in the pattern of warfare’ in modern society. An era has arrived where advanced weapons such as drones, rather than numerous troops, determine victory or defeat. As the threat of death hovers over Ukraine, the despair on the Ukrainian battlefield is deepening.