Ukraine just started shooting down Russia's fastest attack drones

Ukraine says a new drone built to shoot down Russia's fastest attack drones is starting to work.

And it's not just one system. Two separate teams are reporting hits, in the same week.

So here's the first one. Four days ago, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had tested an interceptor against one of Russia's jet-powered Shahed drones — the type known as the Geran-4 and Geran-5. The test came after a briefing from Mykhailo Drapatyi, the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces.

Volodymyr Zelensky says quote "a 'shahed' was hit successfully".

He said some parts of controlling the interceptor still need work, and it'll take more time.

So that's one confirmed hit. One test. And Ukraine's own president saying the system isn't finished yet.

Then, a few hours ago, a second success. A completely different team this time — the Security Service of Ukraine's military counterintelligence unit, not the regular army programme. This one followed a report from Oleksandr Poklad, the SSU's acting head.

Volodymyr Zelensky says quote "a new interceptor drone has been developed".

He said it has already been sent into action, and called it a good result from the SSU's military counterintelligence work against jet-powered Shaheds.

Two different interceptor programmes. Two different parts of Ukraine's security structure. Both reporting results against the same Russian weapon, in the same week.

So why does Russia have this weapon at all? Well, the Geran-4 and Geran-5 fly at up to 600 kilometres an hour. That's about three times faster than the original Shahed drones Russia's used since early in the war.

That speed is the whole point. Ukraine's older air defences were built to catch slower drones. Russia built these ones specifically to get past them.

And Russia is using a lot of them. Zelensky says Russia launched nearly 800 jet-powered drones at Ukraine over just four days in late August. Serhiy Beskrestnov, one of Zelensky's advisers, says Russia used around 1,500 jet-powered drones in July. Then more than 2,500 in August. The numbers keep climbing.