Russia’s mass drone barrage
- Russia launched a large overnight drone attack, firing hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles at targets in Ukraine. - Ukraine's air force said 219 drones were launched and 190 were shot down; the strike killed one and injured dozens. - The barrage shows Russia is testing Western-supplied air defences and exploiting interception costs to pressure Ukraine and Europe. (independent.co.uk)
Russia sent 219 drones at Ukraine overnight into April 18, one of the biggest drone barrages of 2026 so far. (ukrinform.net) Ukraine’s air force said it shot down or suppressed 190 of them by 8:30 a.m. Saturday, after launches began around 6 p.m. Friday from Russian territory and occupied Crimea. About 150 were Shahed-type drones, alongside Gerbera and Italmas models. (ukrinform.net) The military reported 28 confirmed hits at 17 locations, with debris from downed drones falling at nine more sites. Ukrainian officials said the attack killed at least one person and injured dozens. (ukrinform.net) (independent.co.uk) The numbers show how this phase of the war works: Russia is sending large packs of relatively cheap drones to force Ukraine to fire back, move air-defense units, and protect more cities at once. The mix now often includes decoys built to look enough like attack drones to soak up radar time and interceptor fire. (isis-online.org) (cepa.org) Ukraine has been trying to answer that cost problem with cheaper interceptor drones of its own. Defense News reported in March that Ukrainian interceptor drones were already responsible for about one-third of Russian aerial targets destroyed nationwide, and more than 70% of Shahed downings over Kyiv in February. (defensenews.com) Russia has also been increasing the scale of these attacks. On April 15, Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 324 drones and three ballistic missiles overnight, and Reuters reported that air defenses downed or neutralized 309 drones while 13 hit nine locations. (reuters.com) Analysts have tracked Russia’s use of Gerbera and other decoy drones since at least mid-2024. The Institute for Science and International Security said Gerbera production had reached at least 50 drones a day, giving Russia a steady way to bulk up strike packages without matching the cost of true one-way attack drones. (isis-online.org) That leaves Ukraine in a race of numbers as much as accuracy. Saturday’s barrage ended with most drones stopped, but it still produced deaths, injuries and confirmed strikes across multiple regions. (ukrinform.net)
