Iranian drones officially entered the battlefield of Ukraine

A senior Russian defense official recently stated that most indigenous drones in Russia did not meet the technical and tactical requirements. Against this backdrop, Russian troops have shifted strategy and deployed a swarm of Iranian kamikaze drones to attack Ukraine.

According to reports, the Ukrainian Armed Forces came under a swarm drone attack by Russian troops. The Russians allegedly deployed the Shahed-136 kamikaze drones, also known as Geran-2 in Russian, acquired from Iran, to strike a Ukrainian position near its capital Kyiv.

Oleksiy Kuleba, the governor of the Kyiv region, reported that six drones struck a building overnight in Bila Tserkva, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) south of the city. In the past three weeks, Ukraine has seen many Russian drone assaults using Iranian-made Shahed-136 aircraft, but the attack on Bila Tserkva was the closest to Kyiv.

In its report, a Russian language media portal stated that a swarm of uncrewed aerial vehicles, known as “Geran,” attacked Ukrainian military installations.

The unanticipated swarm attack significantly reduced the chances of repulsing the attack with the Ukrainian air defense. It allowed the Russians to inflict critical strikes on the infrastructure of the Ukrainian military.

The drones provide a tactical challenge for Ukrainian ground forces even though they are less expensive and less advanced than American, British, Israeli, Chinese, or even certain Russian weapons.

Reports state that Tehran has several Shahed drone variations. While Iran has provided scant information, the triangle-shaped Shahed is claimed to have a range of about 2,000 kilometers.

The Shahed-136 drone has the potential to hit specific targets at a distance, which is something that Russia sorely needs to wage war against Ukraine, which is well-armed and well-resourced with assistance from the US-led NATO.

The Shahed-136, commonly known as a swarming drone, has been most frequently employed against Ukraine. The Shahed-136, which Iran first used in 2021, is designed to overwhelm ground forces and get past the opponent’s air defenses.

The UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) said in its September 14 update, “The Shahed-136 is a one-way attack UAV with a claimed range of 2,500 kilometers. Russia is increasingly sourcing weaponry from heavily sanctioned states like Iran and North Korea as its stocks dwindle.”

The Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company produced the Shahed-136 suicide drone, which can typically carry warheads weighing between five to thirty kilograms.

Iran had previously refuted claims that it had given Russia weaponry or drones similar to the Shahed-136. Later, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander bragged about supplying Russia with these drones.