Zelenskyy: Ukrainian interceptor has downed jet-powered Shahed, production will scale up

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said a jet-powered Shahed drone was shot down by a Ukrainian-developed interceptor.

Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter)

Quote: "Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapatyi delivered a report. Importantly, there is another positive result from testing interceptors against jet-powered Shaheds – a successful shoot-down.

I thank all the developers and our warriors. We will scale this up. Step by step, we are finding answers to Russian threats and creating our own Ukrainian means of pressure on the enemy. We are preparing new active and long-range operations."

Background:

• In recent months, Russia has increasingly relied on jet-powered drones in attacks on Ukraine, which are much faster than conventional Shaheds.
• In August, the number of jet-powered Shaheds used by Russia to attack Ukraine increased by at least 67%, from approximately 1,500 to more than 2,500.
• On 30 August, Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara said Ukraine already has four potential interceptors capable of shooting down jet-powered Shaheds, which had undergone field testing.

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