Key developments on Dec. 31: * Ukrainian sea drone downs Russian helicopter with anti-air missile in first strike of its kind * Russian attacks damage homes and infrastructure in Kyiv and Sumy oblasts ahead of New Year * Ukraine strikes oil depot in Russia's Smolensk Oblast, General Staff confirms * Russian officers trained for
The depot, which supplied the Russian military, was targeted in a coordinated operation involving Ukraine's Special Operations Forces and the Unmanned Systems Forces.
As Russian troops continued to hold an advantage on the ground, Ukraine has been keen to level the power in the air. In 2024, Ukrainian forces bet on drones, hitting targets thousands of kilometers deep inside Russia. Ukrainian attacks have targeted dozens of oil refineries that aid Russia's war efforts,
Latvia will transfer over 1,000 "combat drones of various types" to Ukraine through the international drone coalition, the country's Defense Minister Andris Spruds announced on social media on Dec. 28.
The domestic drone industry "reached unprecedented production volumes" in 2024, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Dec. 28.
The Dec. 25 Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, likely caused by Russian air defense, shines light on a glaring issue the Kremlin has long swept under the rug. By unleashing its war against Ukraine, Russia has made its airspace a dangerous place. While Ukraine banned civilian flights over its territory hours
The statement did not address the claims that a Russian air defense missile may have downed the Azerbaijani Airlines plane.
Ukraine's General Staff said this combat operation "significantly reduced the enemy's ability to carry out airstrikes using kamikaze drones against Ukraine's civilian infrastructure."
Operations at the airport were suspended at 6 a.m. amid a Ukrainian drone attack allegedly targeting the Russian regions of Voronezh, Rostov, and Belgorod.
"From what we can tell — it's no longer a secret — Ukrainian long-range unmanned aerial vehicles can hypothetically operate up to 2,000 kilometers," military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov said.
Debris from an intercepted drone damaged the contact network of a railway in Russia's Voronezh Oblast overnight on Dec. 28, regional Governor Alexander Gusev alleged.
In 2024, Belarus, under dictator Alexander Lukashenko, continued to descend into totalitarianism, imprisoning people at will and providing full-fledged support to Russia in its brutal all-out war. Lukashenko signed a number of bilateral treaties with Russia's Vladimir Putin, helping him facilitate the major East-West prisoner swap that saw spies and
In 2023, the factory produced 2,738 Shahed-136 drones, with output more than doubling to 5,760 units in the first nine months of 2024.
Overnight, Russia launched 24 drones from inside Russia, as well as two Iskander-M ballistic missiles from Voronezh and Kursk oblasts, Ukraine’s Air Force reported.
Key developments on Dec. 25: * Russian air defense missile may have downed Azerbaijani plane, media say * Russia terrorizes Ukraine with mass missile, drone attack against energy grid on Christmas morning * Ukrainian drones destroy Russian ammunition depot in Rostov Oblast, SBU source claims * Ukraine approves homemade Shchedryk aerial vehicle for military
The Shchedryk unmanned aerial vehicle has increased resistance to electronic warfare and can be tasked with monitoring the actions of Russian troops on the battlefield, the Defense Minitsry said.
Russia launched more than 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and over 100 drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. More than 50 missiles and "a significant number" of drones were shot down, he added.
"From now on, the military will be able to plan their needs more effectively, and manufacturers will be able to focus on technological development and scaling up production," Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said.
Millerovo hosts a military airbase which houses aircraft used to attack Ukraine, Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's counter-disinformation center, said.
Ukraine has turbo-charged its long-distance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), making “rocket-drones” to compete with cruise missiles or save the trouble of asking for more Western-made ranged weapons. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration has been showing off the latest results, with videos of the Peklo and Palianytsia missile-drones, which Ukrainian soldiers
North Korea is preparing to deploy additional troops and weapons, including kamikaze drones, to aid Russia in its full-scale war against Ukraine, the South Korean military said on Dec. 23.
"Whoever, and however much they try to destroy, they will face many times more destruction themselves and will regret what they are trying to do in our country," Putin said on Dec. 22.
Key developments on Dec. 21-22: * For the first time, Ukraine attacks Russian positions using solely ground, FPV drones * Over 12,000 civilians killed in Ukraine during Russia's full-scale war, UN says * Two Russian airports suspend flights after Ukrainian drones target Kazan, media, officials report * Slovak PM Robert Fico meets with
Russian state media Kommersant reported that the airports of both Kazan and the neighboring city of Izhevsk had suspended flights.
A military spokesperson said the drones included ground systems equipped with machine guns, and kamikaze FPV drones.
North Korean troops fighting in Kursk Oblast are especially vulnerable to drones but still managed to help Moscow advance a few kilometers in the partially Ukrainian-occupied region in southwest Russia, according to Western military experts analyzing open-source data. The assessment of drone vulnerability differs from an on-the-ground testimony obtained by
The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers discreetly dethroned the former czar of drone purchases — Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov — as the result of a one-sided power struggle from the Head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, allege observers. A new decree shifted a key office in the drone purchasing process
The Ukrainian military has proven to be a pioneer in drone technology, using innovative ways to undermine Russia's material and numerical advantage.
Ukraine's Special Operations Forces killed 50 North Korean soldiers and injured 47 others in three days of fighting in Russia's Kursk Oblast, the unit said on Dec. 17.
Almost 100 of Ukraine's new Peklo missile-drone hybrids have been produced as the weapon entered serial production, Ukrainska Pravda reported on Dec. 16.
Ukrainian air defense intercepted 58 drones out of 132 launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported on its Telegram channel on Dec. 14.
The attack damaged the roof of the building, shattered windows, and lightly injured four men on guard duty, Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov claimed. This marks the third reported drone strike against Chechnya during Russia's war against Ukraine.
