Syrskyi: Work underway to form fourth air defense echelon that can protect two more regions of Ukraine

According to Ukrinform, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Oleksandr Syrskyi stated this on Facebook.

According to Syrskyi, the consequences of Russia's daily air strikes against Ukraine would be far more severe if not for the Armed Forces' systematic efforts to develop "small-scale air defense" and strengthen its capabilities.

"Today, the majority of neutralized Russian Shahed drones, Geran drones, and other aerial attack weapons are the result of the work of our interceptor UAVs," Syrskyi noted.

The commander-in-chief stated that in May, Ukrainian interceptor drones operating within three air-defense echelons destroyed more than 3,500 enemy UAVs of various types. During this period, not only did the number of downed drones increase, but the effectiveness of the "small-scale air defense" system also improved. The highest performance was demonstrated by the second echelon, operated by the Unmanned Systems Forces, which shot down more than 1,200 drones in May alone.

"We are increasing the number of interceptor drone crews and continuing personnel training. Work is underway to form a fourth air defense echelon that will cover two additional regions. We are also actively employing army aviation: in May, our helicopters destroyed more than 440 Russian drones of various types. We are equipping helicopters with modern detection and targeting systems and expanding our range of strike capabilities with new missile weapons that are already demonstrating excellent results," Syrskyi said.

At the same time, the general emphasized that Russia is not standing still.

"The enemy is constantly changing its UAV tactics, increasing their numbers and improving their quality. The aggressor plans to raise the share of jet-powered attack drones to 50 percent. This creates new challenges that require a timely response from us," he stressed.

Syrskyi reported that during a working meeting on countering enemy attack drones, he reviewed proposals aimed at improving air-defense effectiveness and further modernization of domestic interceptor systems.

"The issue of obtaining sufficient warheads for interceptor drones remains urgent, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine are working to expand their own production capabilities for these components. Following the meeting, I assigned tasks in these and other areas for the next period," the commander-in-chief added.

As Ukrinform reported, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, air-defense units destroyed more than 57,000 Russian aerial targets in May 2026.

Photo: Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine