Russia has reportedly begun upgrading one of its kamikaze drones to inflict further damage on Ukraine, with a jet-powered version of the BM-35 attack drone in development, according to a Russian news report.
Jet-Powered Upgrade
Serhii 'Flash' Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Moscow is upgrading the weapon in response to Kyiv's development of interceptors. Beskrestnov noted Russia has already started fitting jet engines to the Shahed drone, which has been fired extensively at Ukraine throughout the war.
"The enemy is fitting jet engines not only to Shahed-type drones, but also to budget mid-range strike UAVs," he said in a post on Telegram.
Specifications and Impact
According to Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda, the report claims the jet-powered BM-35 can fly at speeds of more than 217mph and has a range in excess of 124 miles. Russian military figures said the greater speed is designed to enable the weapon to better evade Ukrainian interceptor drones.
Drones have become the defining weapon of the bloody war in Ukraine. Russia launches the low-cost UAVs in huge waves of attacks, designed to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences.
Recent Attacks and Response
Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 152 drones at the country overnight into Saturday, with 124 destroyed. Local officials said a drone strike on an apartment block in the town of Marhanets, south-east Ukraine, killed a three-month-old baby and wounded 11 people.
Meanwhile, officials in Russia said a major Ukrainian attack hit industrial infrastructure in the south-western Samara region. Ukraine has stepped up its long-range aerial attacks on Russian military industries and energy facilities, aiming to cut Moscow's revenue for the war and make Russians feel the consequences of the full-scale invasion, now in its fifth year.
Moscow's defence ministry claimed it had shot down 598 Ukrainian drones over 19 Russian regions overnight, as well as the Black and Azov Seas and the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. Ukraine has warned Russia is attempting to capitalise on Kyiv's shortage of Western-supplied anti-ballistic missile defences, and Zelensky has been pressuring the US and Western leaders to deliver more of the crucial Patriot missiles.
