• Ukraine accuses Russia of using drones “of the Shahed-136 type” to attack a town south of Kyiv.
• Ukraine’s Defense Ministry first reported the use of what it said was a drone last month.
• The drone can be equipped with a small warhead, making it an effective precision weapon.

As Moscow’s troops face mounting setbacks on the battlefield, Ukraine accuses Russia of striking deep inside its territory with what it claims are Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones.

According to Ukrainian officials, Russia used “Shahed-136 type” drones to target the town of Bila Tserkva, just 50 miles south of Kyiv, injuring one person and destroying several buildings.

For weeks, Ukraine has been warning about Russia’s increasing use of drones, which it claims are supplied by Tehran, to strike cities far behind the front lines, but Wednesday’s attack was the closest to the country’s capital, posing a new challenge to the Ukrainian military.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry first reported the use of a Shahed-136 drone during a blistering counteroffensive in the country’s northeast last month.

Since then, Ukraine’s air force command has reported that Shahed-136 drones have been used to launch attacks on Odesa and Mykolaiv in the country’s south. Following the attack on Bila Tserkva on Wednesday, the ministry claimed to have shot down nine more drones in the country’s south. It posted a photo of the drone’s wreckage, which appears to bear Russian writing.

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Military experts say it’s difficult to tell whether the drones in Ukraine’s images are indeed Shahed-136. However, the wingtip and overall shape of the drone match those seen in videos of Iranian military exercises, according to Michael A. Horowitz, a geopolitical and security analyst and head of intelligence at Le Beck consultancy.

“That’s not conclusive proof,” he admits, “but it’s as close as we can get from an open-source standpoint.”

According to Christopher Tuck, an expert in conflict and security at King’s College London, the drone, which has earned the nickname “kamikaze” for physically crashing into its target, can be equipped with a small warhead, making it an effective precision weapon.

Analysts disagree about its operational range, which could be as long as 1,200 miles in theory but is likely much shorter in practise.

“It’s still enough to hit any target in Ukraine from Russian-occupied territory,” Tuck says.

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