Kyiv residents face explosions during early morning drone strike
A Russian drone hit a 24-story apartment building in Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district on the morning of Oct. 21; the strike killed at least two people and injured two others. The strike sparked a fire on the 20th floor. Kateryna Dzomina, a student living nearby, told the Kyiv Independent she heard a powerful explosion while she was sleeping. Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that debris fell on a car in the Desnianskyi District and landed in an open area in the Solomianskyi District. Following the Oct. 20 drone strikes that damaged a hospital in Solomyanskyi District and another medical facility in Holosiivskyi District, this new morning attack in the Sviatoshynskyi district killed at least two people and injured two others, according to local authorities. In the Sviatoshynskyi strike, Nataliia, a 63-year-old resident, heard drones flying overhead all night before the explosion shook her building.
Russian drone strikes spread casualties across Ukraine
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian troops launched attacks against Ukraine overnight with Iskander-K cruise missiles and 186 drones, most of which were Shahed-type, though they managed to down 150 drones, 63 of which were jet-powered models. These jet-powered drones reach speeds of up to 600 kph and fly at higher altitudes than older propeller-driven models. Across Ukraine, these attacks killed at least nine people and injured 45 others over the past day. In the northeastern city of Kharkiv and its surrounding region, two people died and 11 others, two of whom were children, sustained injuries, according to regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.
| Region | Deaths | Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Kharkiv | 2 | 11 |
| Donetsk | 4 | 8 |
| Zaporizhzhia | 1 | 6 |
| Kherson | 0 | 13 |
| Sumy | 0 | 2 |
| Chernihiv | 0 | 2 |
In eastern Donetsk Oblast, four people died and eight others were injured, according to regional governor Vadym Filashkin. In Zaporizhzhia, one person died and six others were injured, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov. In southern Kherson Oblast, 13 people, three of whom were children, sustained injuries, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin. In central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, one person was injured, according to regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha. The regional military administration in northern Sumy Oblast reported that Russian attacks injured two people, one of whom was a nine-year-old girl. Regional governor Vyacheslav Chaus reported that missile and drone attacks in northern Chernihiv Oblast injured a young woman and an 89-year-old woman. Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper reported that a Russian drone attack damaged energy facilities and a private food processing company.
Mesh networks extend drone control range
Russian forces use the Chinese-made XK-F358 mesh radio to maintain drone control. Mark Hay, CEO of Melrose Networks, says these radios can support networks of up to 63 hops. This technology allows drones to relay communications to one another, extending a control link beyond the range of a single radio. Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, an adviser to the Ukrainian president on defense technologies, says enemy mesh radio relays may be activated in Kyiv to provide temporary control channels for Shahed drones. Michael Bohnert, a defense researcher at RAND, says mesh networks can allow Russian forces to operate drones two to four times further than direct radio links allow. He compares the communication method to a "bucket brigade" where nodes pass data along. The use of these networks makes it difficult to disrupt drones with electronic warfare because the system can reroute traffic through other paths if one link fails. Russia’s 50th Separate Unmanned Systems Brigade "Varyag" has used mesh-equipped Geran and Gerbera drones for reconnaissance and long-range strikes. Bohnert notes that drone configurations can change during an attack, such as when operators send ten drones toward four possible targets to redirect them in flight. This flexibility creates a difficult situation for Ukrainian interceptors.
