While Russia has improved the assembly of Shahed-type drones, it still relies on Iranian or Chinese imports for some components, including engines and microelectronics, said Ukrainian military expert Petro Chernyk.
Russia has increased the number of drones used in strikes against Ukraine by taking advantage of internal localization. As part of its "larger strike packages," Russia often used between 80 and 100 Shahed-type and decoy drones in October and November attacks in an attempt to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses and mobile fire teams.
Ukraine has responded by developing EW systems that disrupt the drones' navigation, causing an increasing number of them to be "locationally lost." According to Chernyk, the rate of downed or lost aircraft ranges from 90 to 100%, indicating the effectiveness of Ukrainian air defenses.
In addition, Ukrainian electronic warfare assets have significantly impacted the effectiveness of Russian strike packages, straining the joint Russian-Belarusian air defense umbrella. This was evidenced by the record number of Russian drones that violated Belarusian airspace in November 2024.
The fact that Minsk responded with jet aircraft indicates that it was unprepared to deal with the deviations and that Moscow did not warn it in advance of the consequences of its strikes and the advanced Ukrainian interception methods.