A new Molniya every four minutes: how Ukraine is fighting back against Russia's drone onslaught on cities and logistics

Sad as it may sound, it isn't just the Ukrainian military that has learned to disrupt logistics with cheap drones launched from dozens of kilometres behind the front line.

Russian Molniya attack drones have become a major challenge for Ukraine's defence forces. Built from commercially available Chinese components, these drones feature simple rectangular wings and beam structures that are easy to manufacture, can be produced at scale quickly and do not require highly skilled workers.

The Molniya is essentially a build-it-yourself platform. It can be fitted with anti-tank land mines, grenades, mass-produced specialised munitions, or almost any other explosive payload Russian forces have at their disposal.

More recently, Russia has begun deploying modified Molniya variants capable of remotely laying explosive devices, delivering supplies and autonomous targeting enabled by machine vision.

Because of their simple design, Molniya drones can be launched from small shelters near trenches and even from flats in Soviet-era apartment blocks.

They strike Ukrainian trenches, shelters, houses, fences and even trees in an effort to deny Ukrainian troops safe cover and defensive positions.

For Ukrainian troops, tactical interceptor drones have become a lifeline against these Russian drones. Although they receive far less attention than the interceptors used against Shahed loitering munitions, their role is no less important.

An Ukrainska Pravda journalist has visited the positions of one of Ukraine's most effective drone interception units and a factory of the country's largest tactical interceptor drone manufacturer. Read on to find out how the Ukrainians are hunting down Molniya drones and the challenges faced by the military and engineers in keeping pace with the threat.