REPORTED: Ukrainska Pravda quoting Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara. The combat claims are the minister’s own and have not been independently verified by TSN.
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara says interceptor drones and heavy-calibre gun turrets are working against Russia’s jet-powered drones. He spoke at a meeting with journalists, Ukrainska Pravda reported on 11 October 2026 at 20:16 Kyiv time [1].
Five interceptors, five targets: the minister’s claim
“Ukraine is already achieving successful results using interceptor drones against jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles. One unit destroyed five aerial assets using five [Bars] interceptors during a combat operation. That’s a 100% success rate,” Khmara said [1].
The “100% success rate” is the minister’s description. He did not say which unit it was, or when or where the operation took place, and TSN has not been able to check the claim. The word “Bars” appears in square brackets in Ukrainska Pravda’s text. The report gives no details about the Bars interceptor: who makes it or what it can do.
Khmara said this experience is now being studied and scaled up, with more experts and units brought into the work [1].
Turrets “in the hundreds”
“The use of heavy-calibre turrets against jet-powered UAVs is also getting results. The number of them in our arsenal is already in the hundreds. This area is being scaled up, and longer-range systems are simultaneously being developed,” Khmara said [1]. He did not give an exact number.
He added that surface-to-air missile systems and man-portable air-defence systems (MANPADS, shoulder-fired missiles) are also proving effective [1].
Faster drones ahead, the minister says
Khmara said Ukraine knows about the solutions Russia is developing, which he described as jet-powered drones “that can reach speeds of 800 km/h”, and is preparing countermeasures for the next generation of threats [1]. That figure is the minister’s account of Russian plans. It is not a confirmed specification of any Russian drone.
According to Khmara, aircraft remain one of the most effective ways to fight jet-powered drones. He said better pilot skill and coordination have cut the number of munitions used per target, and that Ukraine plans to improve that further [1].
He also said hunting Russian drone operators and their ground infrastructure should become a separate specialism. Ordinary brigades focus on the threat directly in front of them, he said, so Ukraine needs specialised second-echelon units whose priority is finding and destroying drone crews [1].
What is not known
- Which unit made the five interceptions, and when and where.
- Who makes the Bars interceptor and what its specifications are.
- How many heavy-calibre turrets Ukraine has, beyond “in the hundreds”.
- Whether any Russian jet-powered drone has actually reached 800 km/h.
Sources
- Olha Kyrylenko and Kateryna Tyshchenko, “Ukraine’s defence minister reports successful results from using interceptors and turrets to counter jet-powered UAVs”, Ukrainska Pravda, 11 October 2026, 20:16 (Kyiv). https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/10/11/8057503/
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