Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Russia is planning a protracted campaign of drone attacks in a bid to demoralize Ukraine.
Speaking from Kyiv in his nightly address and quoted by the BBC, Zelenskyy said he had received intelligence reports suggesting that Moscow would launch the attacks using Iranian-made Shahed drones.
The Ukrainian leader added that Russia planned to "exhaust" Ukraine with a prolonged wave of drone attacks.
"We must ensure - and we will do everything for this - that this goal of terrorists fails like all the others," he said, according to the BBC. "Now is the time when everyone involved in the protection of the sky should be especially attentive."
Russian drone strikes on Ukraine appear to have increased in recent days, with Moscow launching attacks on cities and power stations across the country over the past three nights.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian air defenses had already shot down over 80 Iranian-made drones in the opening days of 2023.
In July, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US had intelligence indicating that Russia is looking to Iran for UAVs.
A month later, it was reported that Iran had begun training Russians to use its drones, though it was also noted that Russia is experiencing “numerous failures” and technical glitches with the drones it purchased from Iran.
In September, Ukraine reported the first Russian attacks carried out using Iranian-made drones, targeting the south of the country, including the strategic city of Odessa on the Black Sea.
At the start of October, Iranian-made drones were also reportedly used in an attack in the Ukrainian town of Bila Tserkva, southwest of the capital Kyiv.
Russia has repeatedly denied that it received drones from Iran.
Zelenskyy’s comments came hours after Ukraine carried out a strike that it said killed hundreds of Russian troops in the Donbas region.
In a rare admission of battlefield losses, Russia said the attack killed 63 of its troops.