Since late December, Ukraine started shooting down all Iranian drones launched by Russia

At the same time, Ukrainian drones are again striking Russian targets hundreds of kilometres deep into Russia.

This conclusion can be drawn by analysing reports from the Ukrainian General Staff regarding the latest "shahedin" attacks.

Ukrainian air defence forces were first able to shoot down all the drones launched by Russia in mid-December, probably due in part to the supply of air defence systems.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said that on the night of 2 January, air defence forces shot down 39 Russian Shahed drones and two Orlan reconnaissance drones. The General Staff said that 44 drones were shot down and that all launched drones were shot down. The General Staff also said that 51 air strikes and 55 strikes from MLRS were carried out overnight. Alongside the drones, Ukraine said its air defences shot down an X-59 missile

Kiev mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said the city was attacked by 40 drones. He said 15 drones were shot down over neighbouring areas, three were shot down near Kiev and 22 were shot down over the Ukrainian capital. The shelling of Kiev damaged the city's energy infrastructure, leading to power outages and one fatality

The Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said that the Ukrainian army shot down 45 Iranian-made kamikaze drones on 31 December, noting that 13 drones were shot down on 31 December and 32 on 1 January. Earlier the General Staff said it had shot down all 13 Russian drones that were launched on 31 December. Early on 1 January, the Kiev city military headquarters said that air defence forces shot down 32 aerial targets.

In comparison, in the first days of such strikes in the autumn of 2022, the AFU managed to hit about half of the drones.