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WaPo: Drones swarm Kyiv every night. These volunteers shoot them down.
WaPo - (archived: https://archive.ph/4Cvsd ) Drones swarm Kyiv every night. These volunteers shoot them down.
A searchlight, a World War II-era machine gun and lots of coffee and tea help a band of volunteers protect the night skies over Ukraine’s capital from drones.
42 minutes ago
By Siobhán O'Grady, Serhii Korolchuk and Serhiy Morgunov
KYIV — Nearly three years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv is still using unpaid volunteers manning antiquated weapons to shoot down the daily swarms of drones targeting the capital, underscoring the government’s urgent requests to partners for new air defense systems.
In the past two months, Russia has dramatically ramped up its air assaults on Kyiv and other major cities, killing and wounding civilians and destroying energy infrastructure across the country. At least 165 civilians were killed and nearly 900 wounded in Ukraine in November, the United Nations reported. Ninety-three percent of those casualties occurred in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Despite Russian threats to deploy nuclear-grade missiles against Ukraine, Moscow more often targets Ukraine with Iranian-designed drones called Shaheds. Use of these 11-foot-long winged drones that crash into their targets has nearly doubled since September: That month, Russia launched about 1,300 of them. By November, the count had reached 2,500.
The few U.S.-made Patriot missile air defense systems Ukraine has received are largely dedicated to shooting down more dangerous guided missiles. Shaheds, however, are small enough — and slow enough — that they can be taken down by machine guns.
This job often falls to civilian volunteers working several 12-hour shifts a week, manning guns at mobile and static air defense positions around the city. Many work regular jobs by day and shoot down drones by night.
/snip
A searchlight, a World War II-era machine gun and lots of coffee and tea help a band of volunteers protect the night skies over Ukraine’s capital from drones.
42 minutes ago
By Siobhán O'Grady, Serhii Korolchuk and Serhiy Morgunov
KYIV — Nearly three years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv is still using unpaid volunteers manning antiquated weapons to shoot down the daily swarms of drones targeting the capital, underscoring the government’s urgent requests to partners for new air defense systems.
In the past two months, Russia has dramatically ramped up its air assaults on Kyiv and other major cities, killing and wounding civilians and destroying energy infrastructure across the country. At least 165 civilians were killed and nearly 900 wounded in Ukraine in November, the United Nations reported. Ninety-three percent of those casualties occurred in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Despite Russian threats to deploy nuclear-grade missiles against Ukraine, Moscow more often targets Ukraine with Iranian-designed drones called Shaheds. Use of these 11-foot-long winged drones that crash into their targets has nearly doubled since September: That month, Russia launched about 1,300 of them. By November, the count had reached 2,500.
The few U.S.-made Patriot missile air defense systems Ukraine has received are largely dedicated to shooting down more dangerous guided missiles. Shaheds, however, are small enough — and slow enough — that they can be taken down by machine guns.
This job often falls to civilian volunteers working several 12-hour shifts a week, manning guns at mobile and static air defense positions around the city. Many work regular jobs by day and shoot down drones by night.
/snip
I wonder if they rent themselves out?
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
