Russia launched record 5,337 drones on Ukraine in June, intensifying aerial war

Russia launched a record 5,337 drones at Ukraine in June alone, marking the most intense month of drone warfare since the start of the full-scale invasion, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.

Russia has sharply escalated its aerial campaign against Ukraine, launching 5,337 drones in June — a 27% increase from the previous high of 4,198 drones recorded in March. The surge in attacks underscores a new phase of sustained and intensified warfare.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv alongside German Foreign Minister Johannes Wadephul, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha noted that in the past 18 months, only two days have passed without any missile or drone attacks on Ukraine.

The scale of attacks has grown exponentially. In June 2024, Russia launched just 332 drones. But on a single day this year — 29 June — 477 drones were deployed, marking the largest one-day aerial assault since the beginning of the war.

On 17 June, Kyiv experienced its deadliest assault since February 2022. That nine-hour strike killed 30 civilians and injured 172, according to Ukrainian officials.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on 24 June that Russia had launched approximately 28,000 Shahed-type drones since early 2022. These drones, initially imported from Iran, have since been domestically replicated by Moscow under the name Geran. Russia has also introduced the Garpiya-A1 — a Shahed-like drone using Chinese components.

Another tactic in Russia’s arsenal includes the use of Gerber 'dummy' drones — visually identical to Shaheds but without explosives — to mislead Ukrainian air defence. These decoys now comprise up to half of all UAVs used in recent attacks.

Russia typically begins aerial offensives with drones and decoys, followed by cruise and ballistic missiles in coordinated waves designed to overwhelm Ukraine’s defences.

Regional authorities confirmed at least four civilians were killed and 15 injured in Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia as a result of the latest wave of attacks.

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