In Kherson, new methods of protecting buses from Russian drones are being tested

In Kherson, there are plans to cover the windows of public buses with bulletproof film to reduce the risk of passengers being injured by shards of glass during Russian attacks.

Vadym Melnyk, director of the municipal enterprise “Khersonkomtransservice,”shared this information in a comment to the publication “Vgoru.”

According to him, the bulletproof film does not protect the vehicles from a drone strike or an explosion, but it does hold the glass shards in place, which will help reduce the number of injuries among passengers.

So far, two buses have already been fitted with the bulletproof film. Over the next ten days, the company plans to equip its entire bus fleet with this protection. According to Melnik, the necessary supply of bulletproof film is already available, but the work takes time because the window tinting must be removed before the film can be applied.

Previously, city officials also tested another method of protecting public transportation—a metal frame with netting—which was intended to shield buses from attacks by Russian drones. However, they abandoned this idea.

As the company’s director explained, a bus equipped with this protective structure could not pass under the anti-drone shelters already installed over the city’s roads. Furthermore, the vehicle’s unusual appearance attracted the attention of Russian drone operators .

“Even when the bus was in test mode, it was already attacked by a drone. Fortunately, it missed. We realized that this option wasn’t viable,” Melnik said.

At the same time, Kherson continues to seek more effective ways to protect public transportation. In particular, they are considering the possibility of installing electronic warfare (EW) systems on buses. Initially, they plan to test these systems, after which a decision will be made regarding their widespread use.

In addition, they plan to install tablets and monitors inside the buses to display information about air raid alerts and the flight paths of Russian drones. This should help drivers and passengers respond more quickly to threats.

Андрій Колісніченко