PUBLISHED on August 18, 2025, 9:25 AM EDT – Key Points and Summary – Ukraine has achieved significant success in countering Russia’s Shahed drone attacks, shooting down over 3,200 of the Iranian-designed UAVs in the past year, according to Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
-He credited helicopter crews with machine guns for their high effectiveness.
-The success comes as Russia continues to escalate its drone campaign, launching a record 6,129 Shaheds in July alone.
-Meanwhile, Ukraine continues its own deep strikes, recently hitting a Russian seaport used to import drone components from Iran, further disrupting a Russia-Iran partnership already strained by Moscow’s domestic production of the Shahed.
Ukraine Keeps Taking Out Russian Drones In Big Numbers
Shahed drones, purchased from Iran but now largely made in Russia, have been a big part of Russia’s war in Ukraine, forming a huge part of major attacks on Ukrainian cities and strategic sites, especially in recent months.
A Ukrainian military commander, though, is now saying that the Ukrainian side has had some success in shooting the drones down.
Over the past year, Ukraine has shot down more than 3,200 of the Shahed drones by using helicopters, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi told RBC-Ukraine in an interview on August 18, as cited by the Kyiv Independent.
“The army aviation has proven itself very well: helicopters equipped with machine guns are highly effective,” Syrskyi said in the RBC-Ukraine interview. “From August last year to August this year, they shot down more than 3,200 Shahed-type drones — these are impressive figures.”
In the interview, Syrskyi also talked about the potential of using interceptor drones.
“We have many developments here,” the commander told RBC-Ukraine. “We use the entire range of systems available to combat (Russian) drones.”
The Barrage Continues
However, many of the drones are still getting through.
Per the Independent, “Ukraine’s Air Force reported 6,129 Shahed drones launched in July, a new record that surpassed June’s 5,337 and marked a 14-fold increase compared to July 2024.”
Another Success
However, there was a bit more good news for Ukraine over the weekend on the anti-drone front. Per Gwara Media, which cited a Facebook post by the Ukrainian general staff, Ukrainian forces “attacked the Russian Olya seaport in the Astrakhan region, destroying a cargo ship Port Olya-4 with parts for Shahed drones and ammunition from Iran.”
The Russians, the report said, “use this port as an important logistics hub for the supply of military goods from Iran.”
CNN reported earlier this month that Russia and Iran have been at odds of late about those Shahed drones. The countries reached a $1.75 billion agreement in 2023 to allow Russia to manufacture the drones at a factory in Russia.
However, this appears to have led to rising tensions between the two countries, which wasn’t helped when Russia did little to help its ally when Iran was at war with Israel in June.
“A Western intelligence source says the expansion and the complete Russian integration of the Shahed-136, have effectively marginalized Iran, revealing a rift between Moscow and Tehran,” CNN reported about the tensions.
“Iran may have expected Russia to do more or take more steps without being required to do so,” Ali Akbar Dareini, an analyst for the Tehran-based Center for Strategic Studies, told CNN in the early August report. “They may not intervene militarily, but they may beef operative support, in terms of weapons shipments, technological support, intelligence sharing, or things like that.”
A New Drone?
Additionally, this week, a report indicates that the Shahed designs are inspiring drone manufacturers elsewhere, including in the U.S.
A U.S.-based drone manufacturer called Griffon Aerospace introduced the MQM-172 Arrowhead, a new drone in the style of the Shahed, which is “designed to operate as both a high-performance target platform and a configurable strike asset,” Interesting Engineering reported.
“Arrowhead was purpose-built to give our customers unmatched flexibility across multiple mission sets,” Daniel Beck, the company’s airworthiness manager and program manager, wrote in a LinkedIn post on Sunday.
“In addition to its role as a high-performance target drone, Arrowhead can also be configured as a one-way attack platform—bringing decisive effects when it matters most.”
Per Interesting Engineering, the Arrowhead “looks similar to Iran’s Shahed suicide drone. Its primary role is as a target drone for military training exercises, but it can also be configured as a one-way attack platform, commonly known as a kamikaze drone.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
Military Matters
The F-22 Raptor Just Keeps Getting Better
