Russia to increase drone strikes on Ukraine by 10–20% each month — Ukrainian serviceman

Valeriy Borovyk, a serviceman in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, founder of the drone manufacturing company First Contact, and chairman of the board of the New Energy of Ukraine Alliance, shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

"I don’t want to sound overly pessimistic when I say that defending Kyiv against future Russian attacks will be extremely difficult. Some people argue that it’s better not to speak publicly about these issues or comment on the state of our air defenses. But that’s not the point — the truth is what matters. And the truth is, we must prepare for massive terrorist attacks by Russia," Borovyk said.

He emphasized that Ukraine must not only increase production of interceptor drones, but also develop kinetic missiles capable of destroying aerial targets at altitudes of up to 2,000 meters.

"The Russians have begun claiming they can produce up to 1,000 drones per day. This is not true," said Borovyk. 

"Previously, they were manufacturing up to 120 Shahed UAVs daily. It’s impossible to suddenly jump to 300–500 units. The increase in attacks will be gradual, likely by 10–20% each month, or perhaps even every few months. However, we must still be prepared for the possibility of a simultaneous attack involving 1,000 drones. If that doesn’t happen, it will be good news — but that doesn't mean we can afford to relax or assume the enemy won’t eventually scale up its assault capabilities. 

We need to ramp up the production not only of interceptor drones, but also of kinetic missiles capable of engaging aerial targets at altitudes of up to 2,000 meters."

• On July 4, Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, in coordination with other units of the Defense Forces, struck a Russian facility in the Moscow region that manufactures combat modules for Shahed 'kamikaze' drones.