In brief

• The article covers Serhii Beskrestnov's claim that Russia switched to petrol-engined Shahed drones because cloud cover makes interceptors' detection harder.
• Ukraine's air force reported 433 drones launched overnight, 64 of them jet-powered, with 371 shot down or suppressed by 07:30.
• Damage included a 67-year-old man injured in Chernivtsi and a woman injured in Obukhiv district, Kyiv region.

Why Russia switched to petrol-engined drones

Serhii Beskrestnov, an unofficial technology adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Russia is launching dozens of ordinary petrol-engined Shahed drones because the sky over Ukraine is fully overcast (Флеш объяснил, почему оккупанты вновь начали запускать для ударов по Украине десятки бензиновых шахедов – NV) («Флеш» пояснив причину масованої атаки України бензиновими, а не реактивними БпЛА – zaxid.net). He argued that Russia is counting on Ukrainian interceptor crews finding these drones harder to detect in such conditions ("Флеш" объяснил, почему РФ запустила по Украине десятки бензиновых, а не реактивных дронов – my.ua). The mass launch began on the evening of October 31.

Overnight attack in numbers

• Drones launched from 18:00 on October 31: 433 (РФ атаковала Украину 433 дронами, среди которых более 60 — реактивные: есть попадания – NV)
• Of these, jet-powered Shaheds: 64
• Shot down or suppressed by 07:30 on November 1: 371
• Places where hits were recorded: 16
• Places where debris fell: 14

The air force's figures for downed drones were preliminary, and more than 40 drones were still airborne at the time of the update.

Background: jet drones and a warning on video

On October 14, Beskrestnov said Russia was testing jet-powered drones against western regions. Over the following days, jet drones launched from Crimea reached Lviv, and some flew around 880 km to Lutsk. On October 15, he urged Ukrainians not to film or publish footage of Shahed hits, warning that Russia could use such videos to study how optical target recognition works.

Damage on the night

In Chernivtsi, two drones hit an administrative civilian building, and a 67-year-old man was injured by shrapnel. Medics gave him first aid and took him to hospital, and a fire broke out where debris fell. A third drone was destroyed by mobile fire groups (Россияне ударили двумя шахедами по административному помещению в Черновцах, есть раненый – NV). In Kyiv region, a woman was injured in Obukhiv district, where she was treated for stress and a scrape on her shoulder (Россияне атакуют Киевскую область вторые сутки подряд, под ударом жилые дома и энергетика – NV). Drone strikes also damaged homes and energy infrastructure in six districts of the region.

Read also

• Ukraine says it hit Russian rocket fuel plant in Rostov region with Neptune missiles and drones
• Russia makes up to 3,000 jet-powered Shahed drones a month, presidential adviser says