On the road with the Ukrainians downing drones with machine guns

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1. **From The Telegraph’s Fermin Torrano:**

   The vehicle’s lights are switched off and the battlefield plunges into darkness. The machine gun vanishes and the soldiers disappear. Only the starlight sketches out the silhouettes of Ukrainian troops in position on a bridge.

   The day has ended, but their mission is about to begin: it’s time to hunt [Russia’s drones](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/16/russia-ukraine-peace-talks-zelensky-putin-war-latest-news/).

   As Kyiv pushes for more Patriot missiles and advanced defence batteries, this handful of soldiers are doing what billion-pound systems cannot: reacting in real time to Moscow’s main threat before they reach Ukraine’s cities.

   In the past month, they have downed seven Shahed 136s. Is it a lot? Or not enough? The crackle of the radio interrupts the debate.

   “Stay sharp, we’ve got work to do,” shouts Ivan, commander of the mobile anti-air battery. “There’s one heading this way. We’ll try to bring it down.”

   The Shahed is one of Kyiv’s greatest foes – not for its destructive power, but for its ability to overwhelm air defences.

   Cheap, explosive and increasingly hard to intercept, Russia sends several thousand each month. Launched in waves alongside [ballistic missiles](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/13/russias-new-frankenstein-missile-terrorising-ukraine/), they overwhelm even the most advanced systems, and put high-value assets such as the F-16 jet at serious risk.

   The weapon’s importance to Russia was underscored when a number of Shaheds were paraded on May 9 – the first time drones have been included in Moscow’s annual [Victory Day celebrations](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/09/russia-ukraine-zelensky-putin-war-latest-news529/).

   In recent days, as Kyiv and its allies have pushed for a full 30-day ceasefire, the sound of the drones’ four-cylinder engines overhead has not stopped, and they have continued to target civilian centres.

   Hi-tech Western arms are capable of intercepting individual Shaheds and Russian ballistic missiles, but each Patriot missile costs millions of pounds. In contrast, each Shahed costs Russia about £26,000 to produce.

   What’s more, [the flow of Western defence weaponry has slowed](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/20/american-patriot-missile-defence-alternative-ukraine-war/) in the months since Donald Trump returned to the White House, leaving Ukraine’s EU allies scrambling to supply Kyiv with more missiles.

   **Article Link:** [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/17/soldiers-fill-gap-as-west-sends-air-defences-to-ukraine/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/17/soldiers-fill-gap-as-west-sends-air-defences-to-ukraine/)

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