Ukraine steels itself for a tough winter while Russia prepares new attacks with new weapons.
On the battlefield, the Ukrainian military worries about a lack of equipment – including drones with thermal cameras.
– We go blind at night, says Lyuba Shipovytch from the volunteer group Dignitas, which supplies the military with equipment.
At least six people were killed and many injured when a Russian robot crashed into a postal terminal in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. It is the latest in a series of Russian attacks on Ukraine.
The American think tank Institute for the Study of War, ISW, warns in its daily update on the war in Ukraine that the Russian forces are now testing new weapons and attacks ahead of winter.
ISW writes that Russia is trying to find gaps in the Ukrainian defense before further attacks in the coming winter.
Losing 10,000 drones a month
Yuriy Ignat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, spoke on Sunday about the fact that Ukraine’s defense discovered that Russia had attacked the country with drones of unknown models, writes Ukrainian Pravda.
Ignat warned at the beginning of the month that Russia is intensifying its drone attacks ahead of winter.
At the same time, parts of the Ukrainian military are worried about how the country’s defense will survive the winter. BBC reports that there is a risk of a shortage of drones in Ukraine as a result of China imposing restrictions on the export of equipment. A large percentage of the drones used in the war come from China.
The London-based think tank Royal United Services Institute, Rusi, estimates that Ukraine is losing about 10,000 drones a month.
“The days are getting shorter and the nights are longer”
After the Chinese restrictions, more and more drones and drone parts are now bought from Europe instead.
– But what we will do in the future is unclear, says Lyuba Shipovytj, head of the volunteer group Dignitas, which provides the Ukrainian military with, among other things, drones for the British channel.
Ahead of the expected harsh winter, the lack of one type of drone in particular is something to worry about, namely drones with thermal cameras.
– Since the days are getting shorter and the nights are longer, this definitely has an impact on supplies for our military and on how warfare is conducted in general because we don’t have as many drones with thermal cameras, says Lyuba Shipovytch.
– We go blind at night.