Politics
Surge in Russian drone strikes test Ukrainian defences and devastate families
Maria Troyanivska had come home early the night a Russian drone hit her bedroom.
“It flew in through the window, right into her room,” her mother Viktoria tells the BBC. After the explosion, she and her husband Volodymyr ran from the next room to find their daughter’s room on fire.
“We tried to put it out, but everything was burning so strongly,” she says through tears. “It was impossible to breathe – we had to leave.”
The Russian Shahed drone killed the 14-year-old in her bed, in her suburban apartment in Kyiv, last month.
“She died immediately, and then burned,” her mother said. “We had to bury her in a closed coffin. She had no chance of surviving.”
A Russian drone flew through Maria’s window, killing her instantly and incinerating the room
© BBC/Kamil Dayan Khan
Russia is massively increasing drone strikes on Ukraine. More than 2,000 were launched in October, according to Ukraine’s general staff – a record number in this war.
The same report says Russia fired 1,410 drones in September, and 818 in August – compared with around 1,100 for the entire three-month period before that.
It’s part of a wider resurgence for Russian forces. The invaders are advancing all along the front lines. North Korean troops have joined the war on Moscow’s side. And with the election of Donald Trump for a second term as US president, Ukraine’s depleted and war-weary forces are facing uncertain support from their biggest military donor.
The majority of the Russian drones raining down on Ukraine are Iranian-designed Shaheds: propeller-driven, with a distinctive wing shape and a deadly warhead packed into the nose cone.
Russia has also started to launch fake drones, without any explosives, to confuse Ukraine’s air defence units and force them to waste ammunition.
Compared to missiles they are much cheaper to build, easier to fire, and designed to sap morale.
Every night, Ukrainians go to sleep to notifications pinging on their phones, as inbound drones crisscross the country, setting sirens blaring.
And every morning, they wake to news of yet another strike. Just since the start of November, drones have hit Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia.
On Sunday, Russia launched 145 drones at Ukraine, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky – a record number for a single day since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Kyiv said that day it had managed to shoot down 62 drones, and that a further 67 were “lost” – meaning they were either downed by electronic warfare, or disappeared from radar screens.
Ukrainian air defences are struggling to cope with the surging numbers.
Surge in Russian drone strikes test Ukrainian defences and devastate families
“So far we have been intercepting them. I hope we will keep intercepting them,” Sgt Mykhailo Shamanov, a spokesperson for Kyiv city military administration, told the BBC.
While he says Russia tries to hit military installations, the “general aim is terrorising civilians”.
They know the Russians will continue to ramp up these attacks, he said – it’s why his government is constantly asking for more air defence from Western allies.
It’s also why Ukraine is nervously waiting to see how US President-elect Trump will approach the war when he re-enters office.
“Even if air defence works well, drone or missile debris falls on the city. It causes fires, damage and unfortunately sometimes victims,” he explained.
“Every night it’s a lottery – where it hits, where it’s shot down, where it falls and what happens.”
Vitaliy’s mobile defence unit defends the skies around Kyiv
© BBC/Kamil Dayan Khan
Vitaliy and his men have no fixed post – their weaponry for shooting down the Shaheds is carried on the back of a flatbed truck, allowing them to manoeuvre quickly.
“We try to monitor, move, outpace the drone, destroy it,” he said.
It’s clear the job is taking its toll.
“Half a year ago, it was 50 drones a month. Now the number has risen to 100 drones, every night,” he said.
Their days are getting longer too. When the Russians used mainly missiles to bomb Ukraine, the unit commander said, the air alerts would last about six hours. “Now, it’s around 12 or 13 hours,” he said.
Vitaliy is confident in front of his men, declaring that they can handle all that the Russians can fire at them if they get weapons from Western allies. “Our guys could even deal with 250 drones [in a night],” he said.
But air defence can only do so much. Ukrainians will continue to suffer until Russia stops its invasion and its air assaults on cities.
Viktoria says their lives are now divided into before and after their daughter’s death. They are staying with a friend after the destruction of their flat; she said they sleep in the corridor at night to shelter from the constant drone attacks.
Viktoria says her life is now divided into before and after her daughter’s death
© BBC/Kamil Dayan Khan
“Of course it’s exhausting,” she said. “But it seems to me it makes people even more angry, irritates and outrages them. Because people really cannot understand, especially lately, those attacks that hit peaceful houses.”
“I don’t understand at all why this war started and for what,” Maria’s father, Volodymyr, told the BBC. “What sense does it make? Not from an economic perspective, nor human, territorial – people just die.”
“It’s just some ambitions of sick people.”
Additional reporting by Hanna Chornous and Anastasiia Levchenko
Politics
Breaking News: I am An Igbo Man, Anioma is Igbo, Nothing like Delta Igbo. We are all Igbos – Ifeanyi Okowa
JUST IN: Governor Sim Fubara Signs N1.1 trillion Rivers state 2025 Budget Into Law.
His Excellency, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has signed into law the 2025 Rivers State Appropriation Bill, totaling 1.1 trillion naira.
Below are the statements of His Excellency as he signed into law the Appropriation Bill, tagged “Budget of Inclusive Growth & Development.”
“Let me first thank the Rivers State House of Assembly for doing a very diligent job and also realizing that what we have ahead of us is to continue to work for Rivers people. So, I want to thank you for working very, very hard and ensuring that we hit the ground running in this new year.”
“I want to say this, maybe for some persons somewhere who are still mixing up issues: we have only one Assembly, and that Assembly is headed by Rt. Hon. Victor Oko Jumbo. A group of friends about nine or ten months ago embarked on what they call a “Sinbad Journey.” Halfway through the journey, while they were coasting, they realized they were entering into the den of devils and sharks. They now retrieved, but it is too late. The truth is, we are not going back. We have given enough room for peace. As it stands now, our majority target is the interest of Rivers State and to continue to defend the integrity of governance. As far as I’m concerned, we have moved on.”
“Let me thank everyone who made this possible. We made a promise to you that we would continue to keep the interests of Rivers State first. So now that this bill has been signed, I can assure you that every projection in it will be kickstarted so that the record of performance accorded to this administration in the year 2024 will be surpassed in this year.”
“Let me thank my management team, that is, my exco, for all the support, most especially my deputy and everyone—the Commissioner for Finance, Budget, and the acting Internal Revenue Chairman—for the wonderful job they did last year. We expect you to do more because we have a bigger task ahead of us.”
“We have made some promises to our people in education, health, and agriculture. We must ensure we make a good impact, just like we have done in the areas of road infrastructure and other aspects of the economy.”
“Let me, on this note, thank everyone and wish you a happy and prosperous New Year ahead as we continue the journey of making Rivers State great again.”
“Thank you.”
– John Martins®️
Thursday, 02 January, 2025
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