Over 200 Russian drones shot down by US-funded mobile fire teams since January, US ambassador reports

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said on Nov. 3 that the U.S. State Department has funded 800 mobile fire teams in Ukraine, which have shot down over 200 Russian drones since Jan. 2024.

“The mobile fire teams are saving lives with their successful work, protecting people and critical infrastructure being attacked by Russia,” she wrote on X.

The mobile fire teams, consisting of personnel from Ukraine's National Guard and State Border Guard Service, are funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Moscow has recently ramped up drone strikes, while dialing down the use of more powerful and harder-to-intercept cruise and ballistic missiles.

Russia has launched thousands of cheap but effective Iranian-designed Shahed-type drones against Ukraine since the fall of 2022.

According to Ukraine's Air Force, 1,339 Shahed-type kamikaze drones targeted the country in September, 1,107 of which were shot down, with some others being jammed by electronic warfare and flying into Russian or Belarusian airspace.

Zelensky calls for tougher sanctions as Russia launched 2,000 drone attacks on Ukraine in October using foreign-made parts

“This volume of ‘Shahed’ drones means over 170,000 components that should have been blocked from reaching Russia,” Zelensky said in his evening address. “Microchips, microcontrollers, processors, and many other parts are essential for enabling this terror.”

The Kyiv IndependentDmytro Basmat