Ukraine's air defenses are making great strides in their effort to take down Russian missiles and drones.
Members of a Ukrainian air-defense unit demonstrate their work near Kyiv on Monday, May 8, 2023. From camouflaged positions, the units dart out by truck into the farm fields around the capital, ready to take down enemy drones or missiles. Since Russia resumed regular air attacks on April 28, the units have a perfect score, intercepting every drone and missile shot at the capital.
Since April 28, Russia has fired a total of 67 missiles and 114 drones at Ukraine, according to Ukrainian air force reports. Only seven missiles and 11 drones got through, and none hit Kyiv., a weapon that was previously considered unstoppable by Ukraine. A newly acquired American-made Patriot battery made it possible.
But the Russians failed to follow up on their initial attacks, allowing Ukraine to regroup quickly, said Douglas Barrie, a defense aerospace specialist with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. After the initial setbacks suffered by Ukraine's air defenses, enough mobile units were back in operation by the war’s third day that they were able to shoot down multiple planes, prompting Russia to pull back its attack aircraft and depriving it of a key advantage.Granite estimates in the early months that Ukraine was intercepting about 50% of incoming Russian missiles. The CSIS report suggested the figure might actually have been much lower.
It has also received European-built SAMP/T systems, and American-built HAWK missiles, and last month added two U.S.-built Patriot batteries.
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