Dozens of Russian “kamikaze” drones were “spoofed” by the Ukrainian military and hit the wrong target

Dozens of Russian drones have “disappeared” over Ukraine, and Ukraine is tricking some of them into flying back to Russia or Belarus, military experts say.

Ukraine’s air defense forces shot down 21 of 43 drones on Monday night as Russia launched attacks targeting six regions of the country, the Air Force said.

Regional officials said drone debris damaged homes in the eastern Kharkiv and southern Odessa districts.

Kyiv’s air force said another 22 drones were “lost.”

Military analysts say Ukraine is increasingly using electronic warfare to redirect or deceive Russian kamikaze drones, some of which are supplied by Iran.

This involves jamming and confusing their navigation systems so they start targeting different locations.

This tactic is believed to have enabled Ukraine to direct the drones to divert to locations in Russia or Belarus.

But electronic warfare can also affect other devices, including civilian cell phones.

The impact was highlighted in a statement last month by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

“Please note that among measures to repel air strikes by the Russian occupiers, electronic warfare means were used,” it said in a statement.

“In particular, in order to increase the effectiveness of the influence on the enemy, coordinate means (deception) are used.

“A side effect of this effect is a violation of the precise time system used by the phone in automatic time update mode.

“In light of the above, it is recommended to disable the automatic time update mode in mobile phones, taking into account that during the period when an air warning is issued, the accuracy of satellite navigation system operation may be compromised.”

Just a few days ago, on December 27, the Ukrainian Air Force said that the country’s air defense system shot down 13 of 24 Russian drones in a night attack.

It added that 11 other Russian drones were “missing” but did not cause any damage.

The drones believed to have been spoofed by Ukraine include Iranian-designed or supplied Shahed models.

Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is the first conflict to use drones in such a dominant way, leading experts to say they may now be more important than soldiers in terms of battlefield impact.

Russia has launched a wave of drone attacks on Ukraine, including attacks on critical infrastructure such as gas, electricity and water plants.

Ukraine has developed a drone that can fly more than 1,000 kilometers and can strike targets in Russia.

Both Kyiv and Moscow have been subject to repeated drone attacks.

The UK is developing drone combat technology and is supplying drones to Ukraine.