Ukraine downs 35% of Russian Shahed drones using MANPADS – Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reported that Ukraine downs 35% of all Russian Shahed drones using man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS).

Source: Zelenskyy at the 20th Yalta European Strategy (YES) meeting

Quote: "We use various types of MANPADS on the battlefield. 35% of all Shahed drones [are downed with them – ed.] according to our analytics, and this is accurate, because we have created a digital database.

Out of all the Shaheds and all the drones Russia has used against us, launching them on our civilian infrastructure, 35% were downed from MANPADS."

Details: Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine suffers from a lack of artillery. There is also a shortage of FPV drones because Ukraine needs so many of them.

He explained that even though Ukraine has developed its own ammunition production, it still depends on imports and help from its partners. He noted that even production in Europe does not cover Ukraine’s needs.

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine does have Patriot air defence systems, but there are not enough of them, although, he said, "Thank God, the reality is more positive than the official information." Specifically, information regarding four Patriot systems was mentioned at the panel: "And here I’d like to thank God, our teams and our partners. The Patriots, first of all, or IRIS-Ts, or our other systems, HAWKs and so on – they all work properly, and it is important that they work with missiles. There is a constant shortage of missiles."

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