Ukraine in race to outfox Russian defences with drone attacks, commander says

(Reuters) -A key figure in Ukraine's 3-month-old campaign to outfox its larger enemy by targeting oil facilities deep inside Russia with drones said Moscow was improving its ability to intercept them, but that his unit was forging technology to keep one step ahead.

Ukraine has attacked Russian energy facilities more than 60 times since the start of August, causing significant damage and disrupting the flow of oil and products through Russia's vast pipeline system.

A senior Ukrainian commander in the 14th Deep Strike Regiment - one of the units leading the drone campaign - told Reuters the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were flying distances of up to 2,000 km. He asked to be identified only by his call sign Charlie in line with Ukrainian military practice.

"We are dealing with a fairly skilled opponent," he told Reuters at an unidentified tarmac strip in Ukraine where several Liutyi UAVs took off into the night sky on their way to attack Russian targets. "They have a high level of training and they quickly adapt to our methods, to the tactics that we use."

DRONE WARFARE IS DEVELOPING FAST

Drone warfare has changed rapidly since Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, with both sides sending them across the front line and far behind it.

Russia has used blizzards of them to reinforce missile attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, seeking to knock out heating during the freezing winter months.

Kyiv's decision to focus on long-range targets inside Russia reflects its view that hitting the energy system that fuels Russia's vast military is the best way to gain leverage over its foe.

Russian officials have said that no external pressure will force them to change course in the conflict and that attacks on its oil industry are dangerously escalatory.

Charlie did not say how many drones were sent on each attack and how many were intercepted, and did not discuss U.S. intelligence sharing, which has played a role in helping Ukraine successfully target some of Russia's biggest oil installations.

"The enemy is waiting for us in certain places, carrying out countermeasures in order to reduce our success," he said.

"We must not forget that the enemy has the most powerful air defence system on the continent. The enemy also made a very large bet on the development of its electronic warfare and electronic means of detecting our UAVs."

Ukraine continued to find holes in Russia's defences, he added, using the latest technology and analysis.

The commander said that Ukraine's focus was increasingly on the quality of drones it flew rather than the quantity, and that the regiment had a dedicated research and development team.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that up to 300 drones were involved in a single attack, although a source with knowledge of Ukraine's tactics told Reuters separately that the typical number tends to be far smaller and includes decoys.

Russia regularly fires hundreds of kamikaze drones and decoys at Ukraine in a single attack, making it impossible for Ukraine to down them all.

"We rely on quality. A large number of drones, I will tell you honestly ... do not always solve a particular problem. It is the new approach, the new technologies that now give us the success that you all see."

(Writing by Mike Collett-White; editing by Philippa Fletcher)