Ukraine builds electronic warfare shield over Kyiv against remotely controlled Shahed drones

Ukraine has carried out a large-scale electronic warfare (EW) operation to shield its capital, Kyiv, from Russian Shahed drones fitted with remote-control capability. The details were given in a Facebook post by Serhii Beskrestnov, adviser to the Ukrainian president on defence technology. The effort matters because remote control lets operators adjust attacks during flight, so disrupting it reduces the threat those drones pose.

How the protection works

According to Beskrestnov, a protective EW "cylinder" has been created over the city. Its purpose is to disrupt Mesh radio communications between Russian operators and the drones. Radio modems installed on the Shaheds allow operators based in Russia to control the aircraft remotely and search for targets while in flight.

Scale and execution

The operation required equipment to be installed at hundreds of locations across Kyiv within a few weeks. Beskrestnov says all major Ukrainian EW manufacturers took part, producing and assembling equipment around the clock. The work was carried out under the president's supervision.

Russian response

Beskrestnov says the measures forced Russian forces to pause their use of the remote-control approach, upgrade their Shahed drones and look for alternative technical solutions. The source does not give further detail on the upgrades.