Russia launches drones and missiles on a modified trajectory, which complicates the work of air defense – Ignat

Russian Iskander missiles and Shahedi drones have been flying on a modified trajectory for a long time, which complicates the operation of Patriot air defense systems. This was reported by Yuriy Ihnat, Head of the Communications Department of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, during a telethon.

He noted that Patriot automatically shoots down Russian ballistic and other missiles during attacks. To do this, the system has to calculate the point where the anti-missile meets the occupiers' missile, and the Russians are trying to bypass this system.

"For a long time, it has been observed that Iskanders – Russian ballistic missiles – are flying on a slightly different trajectory than they did at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Thus, maneuvering and complicating the work of the Patroit system," Ihnat said .

Since the fall of 2022, the enemy has also made many changes to Shahed drones.

"They are refining, changing the warhead and targeting methods, finding different objects, and improving the protection of these strike UAVs from electronic warfare," Ihnat said .

• on May 20, 2025, the Defense Express specialized publication, citing unnamed interlocutors, reported that Russia has begun installing two new types of combined-type warheads in the Shahda, one of which is produced in Russia and the other in Iran. Both have an increased weight from the standard 50 kg to 90 kg.
• On May 26, the mayor of Kharkiv said that Russia had for the first time attacked the city with an FPV drone with a warhead based on an RPG.
• According to The Economist, Russian "Shakhty" are controlled by Telegram bots. The CDC said they are being shot down.