According to the Defense News, that was said by Maj. Gen. Borys Kremenetsky, the defense attache at the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States.
Beside this, Ukrainian forces are working to find and target bases from which Russia has launched Iran-supplied explosive drones at civilian infrastructure, said officer.
Read more: Ukraine’s Air Defence Shot Down 60% of 86 Iranian Shahed-136 Kamikaze Drones That russia Launched
He also added, the Shahed-136 drones are “easy to fight” because they are audible from miles away and move slowly. But Ukraine is in the dark about how many Russia received from Iran, he said Thursday at an event organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank.
The defense attache added that the weapons used for shooting down the drones — up to six per day — exemplify the mix-and-match approach Ukrainian forces are taking in using Soviet-era equipment alongside modern kit supplied by Western nations.
German-made Gepard air defense tanks also are being used to great effect to counter the suicide drones before they can do damage on the ground, he added.
Commanders now want to move toward locating where Russian forces launch and control the drones, according to Kremenetsky. The plan is to train rocket artillery, like the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, on these targets, he said.
The fact that Russia is getting Iranian drones in the first place is a sign that Moscow’s defense industry is “going down,” he argued. Still, the unmanned systems have proved a new threat for Ukraine, allowing Russia to strike populated areas far beyond the front line.
The Iranian government as recently as this week denied supplying Russia with drones, and Moscow has denied receiving any, NBC News reported Thursday. Local officials in Kyiv blamed a Russian-launched Shahed drone for causing damage near the capital on Wednesday, Business Insider reported.
Read more: An Advanced Radio Communication Device on American Processors Found in the Shahed-136
