Russia Starts Launching Drones from Briansk Oblast to Pose Bigger Threat for Kyiv – British Intelligence

The Russian military started launching the Shahed kamikaze drones from Briansk Oblast in Russia in order to pose a bigger threat to Kyiv.

On 27 February, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine confirmed shooting down 11 Shahed drones out of 14 launched at night. Serhii Popko, Head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, reported that nine out of them were shot down near the airspace of the city of Kyiv, and three more – in the north of Ukraine.  

"Due to the vector of the attack, these Shahed UAVs were highly likely launched from Bryansk Oblast, Russia. Previously, the only observed launch site since mid-December 2022 was from the Krasnodar Krai, across the Sea of Azov," daily report of the British intelligence reads.

Prior to this 26 February 2023 attack, there have not been any reports of UAVs being used in Ukraine since around 15 February 2023. This decrease in UAV attack tempo likely indicates that Russia has run down its current stock: it will likely seek to resupply.

"A second launch site would give the Russians a different axis of attack, closer to Kyiv. This is likely to decrease time in the air over Ukraine and an attempt to further stretch Ukrainian air defences," the British Defence Ministry reported.