BBC | Jonathan Beale, Firle Davies, Anastasiia Levchenko, Mariana Matveichuk
Ukraine's air defenses successfully intercepted 94% of 1,500 Russian drones and 73% of 56 missiles launched in a recent 48-hour period, preventing higher casualties despite 24 civilian deaths, including two sisters. This marks an improvement from 55% drone interception on 14 May 2025. Ukraine has developed a sophisticated, layered system combining Western Patriot missiles with indigenous solutions like mobile fire teams and cheap, mass-produced interceptor drones. The Sky Map software, utilizing radars, thousands of sensors, video feeds, and AI, tracks threats and guides defenses. Ukraine now produces over 1,000 3D-printed P1-SUN interceptor drones daily, costing around $1,000 each, which can reach 300km/h with a 30km range and destroyed over 30,000 Russian drones in March. Private companies, like Carmine Sky, are integrated, operating remotely controlled machine guns in regions such as Kharkiv. Despite these advances, gaps persist, including a shortage of Patriot missiles for ballistic threats and difficulties countering small FPV drones near the front line, which remain a primary cause of casualties. Russia is also innovating with faster jet-powered and decoy drones.
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