Russia Modifies Deadly Iranian-Made Drones For Winter Onslaught—Report

Russian forces are likely to have resolved problems they had with Iranian-supplied drones icing up in the cold weather, according to one analysis.

The Ukrainian armed forces had said this week that the Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as "kamikaze" drones, could not be used by Russia because they were made of plastic and other non-frost-resistant materials.

But on Wednesday, Ukrainian Air Force Command spokesperson, Yuriy Ihnat, suggested that Russian forces had worked on these complications and had resumed using the loitering munitions after a hiatus of three weeks.

"Even in the cold, these drones will fly, so it is also necessary to prepare for this," he said according to Ukrainian army outlet Army Inform. Ukrainian and Russian sources reported Moscow had used kamikaze drones to attack the Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr and Zaporizhzhya regions on Tuesday.

The U.S.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, said on Wednesday that Russian forces "have likely modified the drones to operate in colder weather conditions and will likely increase their use in Ukraine in the coming weeks" to target critical infrastructure.

The ISW has previously said that the depletion of Russia's high-precision weapons has forced it to rely more on Iranian-made weapons systems.

The price of each of the drones is thought to range from $20,000 to $50,000 which "is a small sum considering how much damage such drone can cause to civilian infrastructure," according to the website Military Today.

Since September, Russia has launched hundreds of the drones to attack military and civilian targets and the Ukrainian electricity grid. Kyiv's forces have been effective in intercepting most of them, but they have still caused havoc on Ukraine's power grid, amid a warning that it could collapse in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Ukraine appears to have had its own success with drones, albeit seemingly older ones. Moscow said Kyiv had used Soviet-era drones to strike at the Engels-2 airbase in the Saratov region and the Dyagilevo military airbase near Ryazan—both in Russia—although Ukraine has not officially claimed responsibility.

The strikes will likely be a psychological blow for Moscow, especially as the Engels base, nearly 400 miles inside Russia, hosts over 30 bombers that contribute to the country's nuclear deterrent and have also been used to launch conventional cruise missiles at Ukraine, according to experts.

Ukrainian government sources told Politico that the drones were modified Tu-141 surveillance aircraft, which date back to the Soviet era. This backs assessments from other analysts and news outlets. Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian and Russian defense ministries for comment.