Despite the 99% effectiveness in repelling the largest-scale drone attack overnight November 25th, Ukraine is far from reaching satisfactory levels of protection against russian loitering munitions and missiles.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi asserted this during the Grain from Ukraine international summit in Kyiv and pointed out the operational directions under the biggest threat.
Read more: Black Shahed-136: russian Painted the Suicide Drones for a Nighttime Attack on Kyiv
While the capital city of Kyiv has always been one of the priority targets for russians, there are also a few regions that have "real problems with air defense." First of all, the regions bordering russia: Sumy and Chernihiv in the north; in addition, the President mentions the Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south.
All of the mentioned are endangered not only by kamikaze drones, such as Shahed-136, but as well by frontline artillery and missiles launched by S-300/S-400 systems in the manner of an ersatz ballistic weapon.
On a separate note, Zelenskyi drew attention to the difficult situation unfolding in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, where russians launch continuous attacks in an attempt to encircle the industrial town of Avdiivka. Waves of "cannon fodder assaults" are supported by all means available, including aerial bombs.
Nonetheless, the reinforcement of Ukraine's air defenses has seen progress, Zelenskyi said, and added that all international partners have been comprehensively informed of Ukraine's needs in air defense equipment.
Defense Express reminds that lately Ukrainian Air Force received the fourth IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft fire unit, and one more Patriot anti-missile defense systems is expected to come from Germany this winter.
Apart from that, the Ukrainian President announced a significant boost to air defense in Odesa region which has been increasingly attacked by russian Shahed-136 drones over the past few months. There are already agreements with partners aimed to protect the country's largest port city.
Read more: Russian Media: Drones Used in Attack on russia Resemble Iranian Shahed UAVs
