Ukrainian Leopards Are Already Shooting Down About 30% of Jet-Powered Drones — Zelenskyy
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the “Barsa” interceptors have achieved the highest percentage of Russian jet drones shot down among similar systems. According to him, other interceptors are also gradually increasing their effectiveness, and the overall success rate stands at about 30%. Ukraine manufactures the “Barsa” in partnership with Germany and plans to acquire 2,000 such drones.
Ukraine continues to develop interceptor drones designed to help combat Russian jet-powered drones. According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the “Bars” interceptors are currently showing the best results among such systems. Zelenskyy noted that the “Bars” have the highest interception rate for jet-powered drones. At the same time, other Ukrainian interceptors are also gradually improving their performance. “Regarding interceptor drones, the ‘Barsy’ have shown positive results: they have the highest success rate. The others are catching up as well,” Zelenskyy said.
According to the president, these are long-range drones whose capabilities are already approaching those of missiles. “These are long-range drones that are almost like missiles. And right now, they have a shoot-down rate of about 30%. But the numbers are rising,” the head of state said. Thus, the current interception rate for jet-powered drones, as stated by Zelenskyy, stands at about 30%. The president emphasized that the effectiveness of such systems continues to grow.
Separately, Zelenskyy spoke about cooperation with Germany in the production of interceptors. According to him, Ukraine and Germany are jointly manufacturing the “Bars.” This involves a large batch of such drones. Ukraine is set to receive a total of 2,000 “Bars” drones. “We will receive 2,000 ‘Bars’ drones, which we are manufacturing together,” said the president.
The development of interceptors has become particularly important due to the emergence of jet-powered strike drones in Russia. These drones can be more challenging targets for traditional air defense systems because of their higher speed. At the same time, Ukraine is working on other ways to combat such drones. Zelenskyy previously stated that the Ukrainian military is set to begin using small interceptor missiles in the near future.
According to the president, Ukraine expects to see results from this program in the second half of October. This involves several types of domestically produced missiles designed specifically to combat jet-powered drones.
Thus, Ukraine is simultaneously developing several approaches to counter this new threat—ranging from interceptor drones to small missiles. According to Zelenskyy, the “Bars” are already demonstrating the best results among interceptors, and there are plans to scale up production of these systems in collaboration with Germany. The head of state spoke about this during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Kyiv.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that Russia is deliberately intensifying its attacks ahead of possible negotiations with the U.S. In his view, Vladimir Putin is trying to provoke Ukraine into responding so that he can further justify a new escalation. At the same time, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine will continue to strengthen its defenses and is not abandoning the diplomatic track.
