Ukrainian air defenses are constantly struggling to protect the capital, kyiv, as attacks by Russian drones and missiles increase. Franceinfo was able to follow them during their night patrol.
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They are the ones who watch over the Ukrainian capital. The air defense soldiers are in charge of protecting kyiv from Russian attacks. Since the beginning of September, Moscow has launched 90 missiles and more than 600 drones on Ukraine. The majority of these projectiles were intercepted thanks to the efficiency of these men.
About fifty kilometers from kyiv, in a field on the edge of a village, the men of the anti-aircraft defense monitor the sky. Stass finishes installing his machine gun on the turret of his pick-up: “With this you can shoot down anything, even an airplane, if the distance allows it.”
Planes, why not, but what Stass is shooting at are mainly the missiles and drones launched at a frantic pace by the Russian enemy. “These scumbags never sleep, Stass continues. When it comes to terrorizing people, day or night, they don’t care. In the last two months, the number of attacks has increased again. There are more and more drones. They don’t aim at specific targets. They just want to wear us down.”
The Russians are also trying to find a loophole that will allow them to break through the Ukrainian air defenses. Dmytro, an officer: “Their first drones were light in colour and therefore easily spotted. Now they are black and therefore less visible at night. The Russians have also reduced the noise of the engine because before you could almost hear the drone half an hour before it arrived.”
The rain begins to fall, the night is calm. The men put away the machine gun, they retreat towards a small house at the entrance to a village. Over a coffee, the three soldiers discuss a burning issue in Ukraine: obtaining a green light to strike military targets in Russia with long-range missiles. For the moment, the Western allies refuse. “The whole country is following the debates around this authorization. Everyone is waiting for it, Dmytro continues. The Russians have landed on my land, why don’t I have the right to strike at their place? Strikes on their airfields would reduce the ability of the ‘Russkofs’ to launch their missile-carrying planes. Two or three planes destroyed means 20 to 30 missiles that will not be launched at Ukraine.”
With this authorization, kyiv could reach about fifteen Russian military airfields. This would facilitate the work of anti-aircraft defense, which would especially reduce the number of civilian casualties here in Ukraine.