Serhii Zgurets, director of the Defense Express media and consulting company, said on Espreso TV.“This initiative is extremely important as Russia is increasing the number of drones it uses to strike cities, including the capital. During recent attacks on Kyiv, we saw the use of 400, 500, even 700 drones – a mix of Shaheds and decoy UAVs. Their numbers are growing, and so is the altitude at which they fly, reducing the effectiveness of mobile response teams,” he said.Zgurets emphasized the urgent need to counter these drones more efficiently.“The idea of forming drone-interceptor units isn’t new, but is extremely relevant. The goal is to destroy Shaheds using cheaper countermeasures. Using air defense systems or fighter jets is simply too expensive — a single Shahed costs around $200,000,” he noted.Kyiv has launched a Clear Sky initiative to use domestically produced interceptor drones for air defense. The city has allocated 260 million UAH for the program. Kyiv’s military administration chief, Tymur Tkachenko, reported that over 550 Shaheds were downed in just one month using such drones.“These interceptor drones can fly at 250–300 km/h, faster than a Shahed. They’re ground-launched and guided manually by operators. There are currently five Ukrainian companies producing such drones at a cost of about 200,000 UAH each — much cheaper than the target,” said Zgurets.But the expert stressed that drones alone aren’t enough.“What we need is an ecosystem — trained drone-interceptor units, radar systems to detect threats, and enough equipment to neutralize drones effectively. This model should not only be applied in Kyiv but across the country. Kyiv’s experience should be scaled to all cities under drone threat,” he said.There are various models of interceptor drones developed by Ukrainian manufacturers, each with unique features, Zgurets added. Western allies including the UK, France, and Germany are also either supplying or planning to supply such drones to Ukraine.Zgurets believes this collaboration can create a synergy effect.“What’s critical now is the training and equipping of units to operate these systems. Russia is ramping up drone production, and our mobile groups with machine guns are no longer effective, since the drones fly too high. Surface-to-air missiles are effective but far too expensive. The fight against Shaheds must be based on a cost-to-effectiveness ratio,” he concluded.Kyiv’s Clear Sky program envisions a comprehensive air security system based on domestic interceptor drones, aiming to counter Russia’s escalating drone assault campaigns.