Earlier this week, Russia launched an aerial assault on Ukraine, deploying nearly 500 drones and missiles in what has been described as the largest attack of its kind since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. The air force said its air defenses intercepted and downed 277 drones and 19 missiles.
Analysts say the strikes mark an escalation in retaliation to Ukraine’s recent “Operation Spiderweb”, during which, according to the Ukrainian security service SBU, Ukrainian forces used drones hidden inside ordinary trucks to destroy 41 aircraft - including one-third of Russia’s cruise missile carriers. Russian sources claim there were fewer losses.
According to data shared by researchers at the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC), an academic institution at the United States Military Academy, Russia has intensified its use of kamikaze drones this year. Throughout 2024, the estimated number of Shahed drone attacks conducted by the Russian military in Ukraine averaged just under 1,000 per month. In 2025, that number has more than tripled, with a monthly average from January to May of nearly 3,500 strikes. Russia’s drone warfare surged in autumn 2024, with monthly attacks surpassing 1,000 in September and 2,000 in October.
As the CTC researchers note: “The Russo-Ukrainian War has demonstrated an unprecedented level of drone deployment, with both sides using thousands of drones per month in increasingly complex and large-scale operations. Drones are no longer occasional battlefield assets; they have become integral to daily offensive and defensive actions, saturating the battlespace.”
