The Power Within: The Kyiv Independent’s first-ever magazine. Be among the first to get it.

pre-order now
Skip to content
Edit post

UK intelligence: Russia launches drones from Bryansk Oblast, making attacks on Kyiv easier

by The Kyiv Independent news desk March 1, 2023 4:48 PM 1 min read
This audio is created with AI assistance

Russia has started launching drones from Bryansk Oblast, using "a different axis of attack, closer to Kyiv," the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on March 1.

Ukraine's Air Force reported shooting down 11 out of the 14 Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones launched on Feb. 27. Nine drones were destroyed in the airspace around Kyiv, according to the head of Kyiv City Military Administration Serhiy Popko.

The U.K Defense Ministry reported that, due to the vector of the attack, the drones were "highly likely launched from the Russian Bryansk Oblast," while the only "observed launch site since mid-December was from the Krasnodar Oblast, across the Sea of Azov."

"This is likely to decrease time in the air over Ukraine and (is) an attempt to further stretch Ukrainian air defenses," the ministry added.

According to the ministry, there had been no reports of Russia's using Shahed drones to attack Ukraine between Feb. 15 and Feb. 27, which "likely indicates that Russia has run down its current stock," and it will likely seek to resupply.

Russia has been using Iranian-made kamikaze drones to attack Ukraine since September, launching attacks against civilians and destroying energy facilities nationwide.

In February, the Guardian reported that Iran had smuggled at least 18 long-range Mohajer-6 combat drones to Russia in November for the war against Ukraine shortly after a Russian delegation visited Tehran.

On Feb. 5, the WSJ reported that Moscow and Tehran were planning to build a factory in Russia that could produce more than 6,000 Iranian-designed combat drones.

In November, the U.S. imposed sanctions against companies and individuals involved in producing and transferring Iranian drones to Russia. The EU and Canada have also sanctioned Iran over its supply of kamikaze drones to Moscow.

News Feed

6:54 PM

Mariupol defender appointed commander of Azov Brigade amid military reform.

Following the start of Russia's full-scale war in 2022, Hrishenkov defended Mariupol, where he was injured. After 86 days of defending the encircled city under heavy Russian bombardment, he and about 2,500 other fighters left the Azovstal steel plant after Ukrainian commanders ordered the defending garrison to lay down their arms.
6:21 PM

4 days of hunting Russian drones.

The Kyiv Independent contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent four days following an air defense unit guarding the skies over a region in eastern Ukraine, seeing how they live, work, and save civilians from the dozens of Russian drones flying toward Ukrainian cities each night.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.