Russia likely started receiving regular resupplies of small numbers of Shahed drones - UK intelligence

Russia has likely started receiving regular resupplies of small numbers of Shahed drones.

The UK Ministry of Defense said this in a new intelligence update published on Twitter, Ukrinform reports.

According to the update, since the start of March 2023, Russia has likely launched at least 71 Iranian-designed Shahed series one-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicle (OWA-UAVS) against targets across Ukraine.

These attacks followed a two-week pause in OWA-UAV attacks in late February 2023.

"Russia has likely started receiving regular resupplies of small numbers of Shahed OWA-UAVs. Russia is likely launching Shaheds from two axes: from Russia's Krasnodar Krai in the east and from Bryansk Oblast in the north-east," the post reads.

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According to British intelligence, this allows Russia flexibility to target a broad sector of Ukraine and decreases flying time to targets in the north of Ukraine. It is also likely to be a further attempt to stretch Ukrainian air defenses.