Ukraine’s attacks that caught Russia off guard in 2024

He talked about this on Espreso TV.

Kyrychevskyi explained that the Russians were caught off guard by Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on their oil refineries.

"Formally, the Russians could have known that Ukraine has various propeller drones, which, although carrying relatively small payloads, can still strike key targets in Russia. They may have assumed these drones would only target strategic aviation airfields," he said. "But in reality, the Russians were unprepared to counter our drone strike campaign, which involved a relatively small number of kamikaze drones, for a variety of reasons."

Read also: New wave of Ukraine’s strikes on Russia: 200+ military targets in focus

The expert pointed out that Ukrainian society may sometimes overestimate Russia's ability to adapt to new military challenges.

"That's why long-range 'kamikaze' drones have become our weapon of choice and likely the biggest surprise for the Russians in 2024. As for other aspects, we might be overestimating the Russians' capacity to adapt to the reality of the situation," Kyrychevskyi concluded.

• On December 19, Russia reported a drone attack, claiming that 84 drones were shot down. Meanwhile, a fire broke out at an oil refinery in the Rostov region following Ukraine's drone attack.