On weakness of our Ukrainian air defence and helplessness of our long-range weapons
The night air attack clearly demonstrated the weakness of our Ukraine’s air defences, the helplessness of our long-range weapons, and the flaws of state policy in developing these two critical components of modern warfare. It also revealed the reasons behind these mistakes, this weakness, and this helplessness – widespread dilettantism and corruption at the top.
Let’s set aside the victory reports – saying that 805 Shahed drones were launched and we shot down almost all of them (747). If that were true, where did all the fires, the destroyed residential buildings, and the struck military sites come from (and they’re there — as everyone knows)
If air defence is so actively destroying Shaheds, why is it doing so over Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities? Why not out in the open country, along the entire route from the border/line of contact to the point of impact?.
Some will object that yes, many are being destroyed, but a few, they say, slipped through… Aren’t too many slipping through? The Cabinet of Ministers building on Hrushevskoho Street in flames, is that not enough to make us stop and think? Or is it already too late?..
A bet on relatively simple, inexpensive (to manufacture, not to procure), mass-produced weapons, on which "lawyers from Zaporizhzhia" and "location managers from Kyiv" with access to the corridors of power can easily cash in, has resulted for Ukraine in civilian casualties, widespread destruction, the prospect of defeat in the war, and corruption scandals without precedent, which will inevitably plunge the country into a political storm, all to our enemy’s advantage.
Instead of investing resources in R&D-intensive, high-technology weapons systems, in surface-to-air missile systems akin to Russia’s Pantsir, which are fairly effective against drones and cruise missiles, hundreds of millions of euros in Western aid are being handed over to bloated corrupt shell companies who, with simple sleight of hand, turn Chinese drone kits into "AI-enabled interceptor drones." The consequences of such state policy are plain to the naked eye: drone-based air defences are unable to cope with a mass Shahed raid.
Of course, FPV drones as a means of countering Orlans, Lancets, Supercams, "Molniyas," and other flying vermin at the front and in the frontline zone are indispensable today, primarily because we do not have enough SAM systems, and you cannot bring them forward there, they’ll be spotted. But that is a completely different story, a different set of lessons, and different employment conditions. Repelling a mass night-time Shahed attack when they are flying at higher altitude, rather than loitering in place in daylight, is far more difficult. And, as practice shows, it is impossible.
How many times have we heard that we are producing Ukrainian analogues of Shaheds in numbers no smaller than Russia is producing Shaheds? And where are the results?.. Yes, Ukrainian drones do hit imperial oil refineries and oil depots. But at what cost? Out of a hundred launched, two or three hits?.. At the same time, none are reaching Moscow and not because someone among our allies (Trump) is forbidding us to do so; almost every night Russian channels report a drone threat somewhere in the far Moscow region but because they are not making it that far.
"Aha!" - the next "expert" will exclaim, "they don’t get through because their air defence is strong; they’ve got Pantsirs under every bush." Which brings us back to the first question: if the enemy is betting on surface-to-air missile systems and we are betting on air-defence drones, while Shaheds are regularly attacking Kyiv and Ukrainian drones are not reaching Moscow, then perhaps we are doing something wrong, aren’t we?..
Only 2–3 percent reach the oil refineries, and none reach Moscow at all, while the enemy is increasing the number of SAM systems even in regions far from Moscow, above all along the borders and the line of contact, boosting the deployment of electronic warfare systems. Very soon, hundreds of our drones that attack Russia’s rear every night will stop reaching any targets altogether, is anyone thinking about this?..
No. What is working is a giant money-making conveyor. Instead of funding the development of science and technology, the creation of modern SAM systems (which we are fully capable of producing in partnership with allies), the improvement of long-range drones, reducing their radar visibility, equipping them with effective inertial guidance, installing optical navigation systems, instead, billions of euros in Western aid (first and foremost provided by the peoples of Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany) are flowing to "friendly" shell companies that are mass-producing drones interceptors ineffective against Shaheds and extremely inefficient long-range drones and all this pseudo-military junk, this pseudo-weaponry, is being written off en masse every night during Shahed raids and during attacks on targets deep inside Russia.
The war has turned into the "elite" making billions off Western aid and Ukrainian blood.
