Ukraine drone defences boost frontline position

KYIV, Apr 22 (AFP): Ukraine's frontline position is "the strongest" it has been in a year due to a superiority in drones and enhanced air defence, Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga has said as Russian gains appear to be slowing.
Moscow's troops made almost no territorial gains across the 1,200-kilometre (750-mile) front line in March, for the first time in two and a half years, AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed.
In comments released Wednesday, Sybiga said Ukraine's "position on the battlefield is indeed the strongest, or the most solid, it has been over the past year."
"We have minimised the Russians' advantage in manpower through the use of drones," he added.
"For us, the situation on the battlefield is about strengthening our negotiating position," said Sybiga, adding: "We can shoot down up to 90 percent of the targets that strike our cities."
Kyiv has been consistently downing between 80-90 percent of Russian missiles and drones -- fired in their hundreds every night -- over recent months, according to data from its air force analysed by AFP.
Analysts attribute the Russian setbacks to Kyiv's localised breakthroughs and drone superiority, as well as to communication issues in the Russian army.
In recent months, Moscow was cut off from SpaceX's Starlink internet terminals and the Kremlin has been attempting to completely ban the Telegram messaging app, both widely used on the front.
Sybiga also said that Ukraine had asked Turkey to push for a meeting between presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin -- something Kyiv has been seeking for months, but that Moscow has repeatedly rejected.
US-led talks to end the four-year Russian invasion were already stalling before the Middle East war put them completely on hold.
The two sides remain at odds over Moscow's demands for Ukraine to completely pull out of its eastern Donbas region -- something Kyiv has repeatedly rejected.