Russia unleashed over 1,300 kamikaze drones in largest-ever monthly attack on Ukraine in September 2024 – British intelligence

In September 2024, the Russian Federation launched more than 1,300 kamikaze drones over the territory of Ukraine, which was the largest number of drone attacks in a month since the beginning of the full-scale war.

The British Ministry of Defense reported that on X (Twitter) on October 23.

According to British intelligence, there is a possibility that this indicator will be exceeded this month.

"Based on current rates, it is almost certain that Russia will surpass that number in October 2024," the report says.

However, it remains uncertain if Russia can sustain this rate of attacks until the year's end.

As the British intelligence reported, Russia is bolstering its ability to carry out extensive drone attacks by combining resources from Iran with their own domestic production.

These kamikaze drones are used against various targets, including Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

"Russia utilizes its kamikaze drones against a variety of targets, in particular, energy infrastructure, given their ability to strike deep into Ukrainian territory, maintaining pressure on the Ukrainian air defense system," the British Ministry of Defense notes.

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It is worth mentioning that the Russian military has conducted a significant modernization of the Shahed attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), resulting in increased speed and the ability to fly at higher altitudes.

As the analysts of the Institute for the Study of War previously wrote, the Kremlin is increasing the production of drones amid efforts to show compensation for the social and economic consequences of the war in Ukraine.

Furthermore, the American publication obtained internal documents regarding the functioning of the plant in the special economic zone "Alabuga" in Tatarstan, Russia, which is set to manufacture over 4,000 Shahed kamikaze drones by 2025.

Last year, Russia also started production of a new Garpiya-A1 long-range strike drone using Chinese components.

In addition, the Russian Federation created a secret program in China for the development and production of attack drones to be used in the war against Ukraine.