Russian troops have started attacking Ukrainian infrastructure with new Italmas drones. This is stated in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

"It seems that during strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure, Russia is increasingly supplementing the use of Shahed-131/136 drones with cheaper and lighter versions of domestically produced drones," the ISW said.

It is noted that on October 23, Russian media reported that Russian troops for the first time in Ukraine used new long-range drones Italmash and its variants during an attack on the Kyiv region.

These Italmas drones are lighter than Shahed drones and are more difficult to detect and shoot down. Also, Italmas drones are cheaper than Shahed drones, which means that they can be produced and used more, but they have a lighter "payload" (explosives on board).

It is likely that Russian troops will use Italmas drones in tandem with Shaheds.