Russia turns to World War I-era balloon barriers to shield refineries from drones

Russia has begun deploying balloon barriers, first used in World War I, to shield its oil refineries from Ukrainian drone strikes, according to analysis from Defense Express. The system uses two balloons connected by a thin cable net, with radar meant to adjust the net's height to catch drones at varying altitudes, but analysts say drones can simply fly over it and that simultaneous multi-altitude attacks would overwhelm the setup.

Testing reportedly used a small toy-sized drone, far smaller than Ukraine's actual long-range drones, leaving open whether the net could survive a collision with something weighing hundreds of kilograms traveling at high speed. The barriers also cannot function well in bad weather or strong wind, and Defense Express says none of Russia's several similar projects has achieved notable success.

Ukraine's General Staff says strikes on Russian refineries have disabled more than 45% of the country's nameplate refining capacity, a figure President Zelenskyy has confirmed, as Ukraine has pledged to intensify such attacks.

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