A civil engineer has identified the types of high-rise buildings that are most vulnerable to drones and missiles
More than half of Ukraine’s multi-unit housing stock consists of prefabricated buildings, which are the most vulnerable to missile and drone strikes by Russian occupiers.
Ivan Pereginets, director of the Scientific and Technical Center of the Ukrainian Academy of Construction, spoke about this in an interview with Ukrainian Radio.
In the event of a direct hit, such structures face the highest risk of destruction and the collapse of entire building sections.
Statistics indicate the widespread use of this construction technology throughout our country.
According to the expert, there are between 280,000 and 300,000 apartment buildings in Ukraine, and panel buildings account for over 50% of this number.
In the Ukrainian capital alone, there are approximately 12,000 such buildings. Structures from the Soviet era are not designed to withstand the stresses caused by military operations.
The expert explained in detail the nature of the danger that such architectural structures pose to residents during air raid alerts.
“They are the most prone to collapse, including progressive collapse—the so-called collapse caused by a rocket striking them, God forbid a ballistic missile, or even a winged or guided aerial bomb, or even a drone. Therefore, these are the most vulnerable types of multi-unit housing,” the center’s director emphasized.
The strength of a building directly depends on the materials used and modern engineering methods during construction. Ivan Pereginets also compared the safety characteristics of different construction technologies.
“Brick buildings are in a different league when it comes to safety. And monolithic structures—using so-called modern construction technologies with a monolithic frame—are relatively the safest during such artillery shelling,” noted the director of the Scientific and Technical Center of the Ukrainian Academy of Construction.
Assessing the potential scale of damage is always a case-by-case matter and depends on many technical factors. The expert also emphasized that the final consequences of an attack depend on many factors.
“It all depends on the type of explosion, on the delivery vehicle—whether it’s a missile or a drone. It also depends on the building’s fire safety features, the number of windows, and so on. But the most vulnerable are panel buildings. They are the most vulnerable,” concluded Ivan Pereginets.
Russian troops attacked a gas station near Zaporizhzhia with a drone; one person was killed
The invaders have attacked the Dnipropetrovsk region more than 70 times; one person has been killed
