Strana 32
UKRAJINA
Against Drones
Most of these Russian projectiles consist
of Shahed/Geran-type drones. Against them,
Ukraine deploys a large number of assets
that are cheaper than supersonic fighters.
These include ground-based systems, where
in addition to German Gepard anti-aircraft
tanks, Ukraine has successfully modernized
and deployed Soviet ZSU-23-4 Shilka vehicles
armed with four 23 mm cannons.
Helicopters and light aircraft also engage
the long-range drones. One of the deployed
types is the twin-engine Antonov An-28
transport aircraft, about which we reported
previously. Now, however, French television TF1
has published a report showing details of its
combat use. The An-28 shoots down Shaheds
with a six-barrel M134 Minigun mounted in the
side door. And as many kill markings painted
on the aircraft’s nose show, its crew has been
very successful.
Human Losses
In the end, allow me a rather bitter remark
regarding occasional claims that model
companies should not get involved in politics.
But this is not about politics — it is about a
war that harshly affects millions of innocent
people including those model companies. And
we are not talking about power outages and
related problems that prevent them from work
working.
In January, two employees of MikroMir
company, being soldier as well, lost their lives.
In the beginning of January, Oleksii Shvorak was
buried. Two weeks later Kostyantyn Kolobov
also fell while defending the independence of
his country. He worked as a 3D designer for
several companies, including AMP and DBMK.
His last design For MikroMir was Junkers
Ju 388 in 1/72 scale. Once released it will be
his last work.
Sadly, he is survived by his wife Oksana and
young son Mykola. Our deepest condolences.
Kostyantyn Kolobov was a 3D designer who worked for
MikroMir and other Ukrainian scale model companies.
In January, he was killed defending his homeland.
In October 2025,
the Ukrainian An-28
carried only three
rows of kill
markings on its
nose…
…in the TF1 report, it already sports 117 of them. The M134 Minigun mounted in the side door of an An-28.
Soviet ZSU-23-4 Shilka systems, recently modernized by Ukraine, are also being used against drones. This vehicle was named “Aligator” and sports four kill markings.
INFO Eduard32
March 2026