Chilling Ukraine Footage Shows What Happens When Air Defense Hits Drone

New footage circulating online appears to show the moment Ukrainian air defense systems intercepted an incoming Russian Shahed drone in Kyiv.

In a clip shared across social media platforms, an Iranian-made Shahed "kamikaze" drone is struck by Ukrainian air defenses over a residential complex in the capital. Bright flashes, which look to be debris from the intercept, then rain down over an apartment building.

Newsweek could not independently verify this footage, and has reached out to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Russia frequently hammers Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, with the Shahed loitering munitions, which are also known by the Russian name Geran-2. Moscow's forces typically launch the long-range attack drones from sites in Russia and Crimea, as they are a far cheaper way of striking Ukrainian targets compared to launching missile barrages. However, they are slow-moving and relatively easy for Ukraine to shoot down—provided they are spotted in time.

Ukraine has repeatedly put air defenses close to the top of its wish list of military aid from Western backers. In his evening address on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said officials in Kyiv "are doing our best with our partners to increase the supply of air defense systems."

On Thursday, Ukraine's military said the Kremlin launched 15 Shahed drone strikes overnight from Russia's border Bryansk region.

"All enemy UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] were destroyed," Ukraine's air force said in a statement. This was the eighth consecutive Shahed attack on Kyiv, Serhiy Popko, the head of the capital's military administration, said early on Thursday.

"Again, like yesterday—a massive attack," Popko said.

Ukraine's military said on Wednesday that its defenses had taken out 23 Shahed drones overnight, mostly over the capital and the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, which has seen heavy bombardment in recent weeks.

"Unfortunately, part of the drones launched by the enemy hit the port infrastructure in Odesa region," the air force said. Multi-story, non-residential buildings sustained "substantial" damage, Ukraine's southern command said.

"Another night of war, another night of the work of our heroic air defense," Zelensky said in a post to Telegram on Wednesday morning.

The "most significant" damage was sustained in southern Ukraine, Zelensky said, adding Russia "again attacked ports, grain, and global food security."

Oleh Kiper, the regional governor in Odesa, said grain hangars, a cargo terminal and an elevator in a three-storey Odesa building had been affected.

"Three educational institutions, one cultural institution, 15 apartments in high-rise buildings and a dozen private houses were also damaged," he said.

Moscow has upped its strikes on the Black Sea port of Odesa after the end of the Black Sea grain deal, which had ensured food supplies were exported from Ukraine's ports to the rest of the world, staving off fears of shortages.

The drone war in Ukraine has spurred on huge steps forward in developing, testing and using unmanned technology. Both Ukraine and Russia have invested heavily in cultivating unmanned vehicles across the air, ground and sea.

Russia has accused Ukraine of orchestrating a slew of drone attacks on Moscow in recent months, and footage of the strikes appear to show a new drone, now known as the "Beaver," appearing in several attacks. Ukraine has not explicitly claimed responsibility for many of these strikes, but Ukrainian officials have alluded to Kyiv's involvement.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Thursday morning that its air defenses had shot down six Ukrainian drones over Russia's Kaluga region, which sits between the Bryansk area on the border with Ukraine, and the capital, Moscow.