The latest Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Monday was preceded by a sound that has become increasingly familiar in the war: the buzz of a small engine, like a lawn-mower or moped, that signals the arrival of an exploding Iranian-made drone.

Russia’s use of the devices, which first appeared in Ukraine about two months ago, is considered to be a sign that it is running low on precision-guided weapons, analysts say. The drones have allowed Russia to strike energy infrastructure and civilian targets, even as it loses ground on the battlefield in the northeast and south of the country.

Iran’s Shahed-136 is a “kamikaze” drone, so-called because it dives from high in the sky towards its target and explodes on impact. It has a triangular wing, carries a warhead of about 80 pounds and is launched from the back of a truck. The drones have a reported range of up to 1,500 miles.

But they are also slow-moving, noisy and fly at a low altitude. Britain’s ministry of defence said last week that those characteristics make them “easy to target using conventional air defences”.

Russia plane crash

A Russian warplane crashed on Monday into a residential area in a Russian city on the Sea of Azov after suffering engine failure, killing at least two and igniting a massive blaze that engulfed several floors of a nine-storey building.

A Su-34 bomber came down in the port city of Yeysk after one of its engines caught fire during takeoff for a training mission.

New York Times News Service