They're slow, loud and 'bargain-basement.' So why is Russia using kamikaze drones against Ukraine?

Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv was struck on Monday by a flurry of suicide dronesthat attacked residential areas, causing widespread damage to buildings, setting them afirewhile killing at least four people.

Theseweapons, also known as kamikaze drones, are not new to the battlefield, having been used to attackmilitary and infrastructure targets in southern Ukraine since September, the Washington Post reported.

But their use on civilian targets raises questions of whether this is a new strategy by Moscow or a sign of a problem with its military campaign.

CBC explains whatthese drones are, their advantages and disadvantages, and why Russia is using them against Ukraine.

What are kamikaze drones?

They're known as "loitering munitions," but also have been labelledsuicide or kamikazedrones. They are used once, destroyingthemselves when they hit their target,much like the Japanesepilots in the Second World Warwho flew suicide missions into U.S. warships and aircraft.

"They are strapped with explosives, payloads, various things like that," said Nicholas Carl,the Middle East portfolio manager of the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project."Sothe Russians can target them at various locations."

But unlike missiles that gostraight from launch to their target, drones can hover waiting hours before theystrike.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials say these specific drones are Shahed 136s, manufactured by Iran. Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyyhas said that, according to their intelligence, Russia has ordered 2,400 Shaheds from Iran, though Iran denies having supplied any such drones to Russia.

They are relatively small; about3.5 metreslong and two metreswide, weighing around 200 kilograms and powered bya 50-horsepower engine with a top speed of 185 km/h, according to the Ukrainian online publication Defence Express. They can be launched from the back of a truck.

What are their disadvantages?

These particular drones arelike "crude and bargain-basement" cruise missiles, wrote Douglas Barrie, a senior fellow for military aerospace with the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

They're not very accurate and are slower, for example, than an actual cruise missile.So they can be shot down more easilyand are vulnerable to jamming, saidChristopher Tuck,an expert in conflict and security at King's College London.

"They are pretty low-end, they're slow and they're pretty noisy," Tuck said. "They really aren't very sophisticated."

The loud buzzing made by the motor has earnedthem another nickname:"moped" missiles.

The Shahed 136s also don'tcarry much explosives the payload for one is about equal to three mortar shells, Carl said, meaningthey have "limited utility" against Ukrainian forces.

So why are Russians using them?

The Russians areprimarily firing Shahed136sat civilian targets and critical infrastructure, Carl said, perhaps to "sow panic and discord," as some Ukrainian officials have suggested.

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They are also very cheap, Barrie wrote.

At $20,000 apiece, the Shahed costs only a tiny fraction of a more conventional, full-size missile. For example, Russia's Kalibr cruise missiles, which have seen widespread use in the eight months of the Ukraine war, cost Moscow about $1 million each.

And, as Barrie points out, the low cost allows a militaryto use them in numbers or swarms against area targets.

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Ukraine is able to shoot down most of them,and it's just those few that actually make it through that have caused the most visible damage,saidSamuel Bendett, an adviser at the Center for Naval Analysesthink-tank.

"The whole point of launching these is to essentially try to overwhelm the [Ukrainian] air defences, andkeep them busy, to try and shoot down every single one of them.And only one really needs to get past," Bendett said.

These drone strikes arealso intended to show that theentire country of Ukraine is in play, Bendettsaid, that any place is a potential target.

"Itneed not be just a military strike. It could be a strike on the civilian infrastructure. So it's not just a military weapon, it's also a psychological weapon. It signals to the Ukrainians that their skies are not exactly under control by their own government."

Still, a report by the Institute for the Study ofWarsuggested that Russia's use of these drones is "unlikely to affect the course of the war significantly."

"They have used many drones against civilian targets in rear areas" major cities away from the front lines likely hopingto generate terror, the report stated. "Such efforts are not succeeding."

Does this suggest a problemwith Russia's military campaign?

That same report citedUkrainian air force spokesperson Yuri Ignat, who allegedthat the Russian army is increasingly using the Iranian-made drones to conserve its stock of high-precision missiles.

That, said Tuck, "would indicate problems with the Russian campaign."

That's because aerial munitions whether drones or missiles are best used against key battlefield targets like artillery sites, headquarters, logistics hubs, orto help reduce enemy defensive positions which areparticularly troublesome, he said.

What the Russians are doing with them would bebetter done with cruise missiles, Tuck said. He thinks the Russiansarerunning low on missiles so "they're usingwhat they do have, which are these loitering munitions."

"The attacks that are being launched, obviously, are very damaging," Tuck said. "But using these systems in the manner that they're being used, I think is more indication of Russian weakness than it is of strength."