'Drone swarms used in strikes': expert on Russia’s air attacks against Ukraine

Aviation expert Bohdan Dolintse said this on Espreso TV:

"Earlier, various experts warned that the scale of attacks would grow. There’s still not enough data on last night’s strike—how many air targets hit Kyiv and the region. But during the previous attack in the northwest, especially in Volyn, there were around 700 enemy UAVs. The prediction that the enemy will use up to 1,000 drones by the end of the year still stands. We need to understand that Russia has the capability to launch that many, but it needs at least a week to accumulate enough drones," the expert said.

He added that Russia plans to ramp up drone production to shorten this stockpiling time and will also train more crews to support large-scale strikes.

"We’ve seen that recent attacks used swarms of 25–30 drones, sometimes even up to 40. According to public sources, the enemy mainly used thermobaric warheads, which cause major destruction to infrastructure and buildings and result in more civilian deaths and injuries. Notably, this happened just days after several Russian facilities producing these warheads were hit. The enemy is clearly trying to show it still has these weapons in reserve, even though it’s been using them intermittently anyway," Dolintse said.

• On the night of July 10, the Russian army attacked Ukraine with drones and missiles. In Kyiv, two people were killed and 16 were injured as a result of the enemy strikes.