Russia reduces 'kamikaze' drone attacks in December: expert explains why

He stated this on Espreso TV.

“It’s worth noting that last year, the terrorist state reported growing statistics on the production of drone systems like Shahed, which they use to terrorize Ukrainian civilians. Accordingly, month by month, the number of these systems they deployed increased, reaching a peak of 2,500. December may have been less successful for the Russians in terms of scaling up production and usage. This can be explained by several factors, primarily the fact that it is not feasible to endlessly ramp up both production and deployment,” he said.

Riabykh also suggested that Russian forces might have concentrated their drone attacks in November, aiming to leave Ukrainians without power before the onset of winter.

“Among other things, they likely focused on November. I wouldn’t rule out that this was the month before the cold set in, and the Russians aimed to maximize their impact on our energy infrastructure. We remember these strikes and the use of significant reserves. However, by December, our capabilities to counter Shahed-type drones had significantly improved. We saw that in December and late November, the majority of drone attacks launched by the Russians failed, with nearly 100% of these drones being intercepted,” the expert noted.

In his opinion, the reduced Russian activity was also influenced by successful strikes by Ukrainian forces on warehouses storing Shaheds and facilities producing their components.

“Weather conditions also play a role, as noted by British researchers. However, I would emphasize the effectiveness of the strikes we saw in December, when warehouses where Shahed drones were stockpiled and several facilities producing their components were repeatedly hit. I hope that the Russians may now be hitting a production ceiling for these terrorist drones. At the same time, we see significant progress by our Defense Forces in both intercepting Shahed attacks and conducting long-range strikes, giving us confidence that the number of drone attacks will gradually decrease in the future,” Riabykh added.

• Russian forces launched around 1,700 'kamikaze' drones of various types across Ukraine in December 2024, significantly fewer than in previous months.