Russia outpacing Ukraine’s air defences with daily use of new jet-powered drones
Russia has been launching its upgraded, jet-powered "Geran" drones against Ukraine every single day in August, according to BBC Verify analysis of Ukrainian Air Force data, marking an escalation that Kyiv's air defences are struggling to counter. The drones' far greater speed, over 300mph, makes them significantly harder to intercept than older models, prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to warn of an unfolding "horror" over Kyiv's skies and pushing Ukraine's military to seek new interceptor missiles capable of matching their pace.
Ukraine's military said jet-powered drone attacks rose sharply from 350 in June to 1,600 in July and 2,800 in August, with these drones outnumbering slower models in five nightly attacks that month. The weapons, some powered by turbojet engines reportedly sourced from China, were used in an attack on 1 September that killed at least 12 people, including railway workers, and injured 20 more. Four Ukrainian firms are now testing new interceptor missiles, while satellite imagery suggests Russia has built a major new jet-drone launch facility at Tsymbulova, around 109 miles from the Ukrainian border, which has become a key centre for such attacks.
- Russia now fires jet-powered Geran drones at Ukraine daily
- Faster drones outpace Ukraine's air defence interceptors
- New Russian base at Tsymbulova boosts drone attack capacity
New here? Start with this
Russia has stepped up its use of long-range attack drones against Ukraine throughout the war, with variants of Iran-designed "Shahed" drones, which Russia produces domestically and calls "Geran", used to strike cities, infrastructure and military targets, often in large overnight swarms. Ukraine relies on a mix of surface-to-air missiles, fighter jets, mobile machine-gun teams and electronic jamming to shoot these drones down or divert them before they hit their targets.
The concern now centres on a newer, jet-powered version of these drones, which flies much faster than the propeller-driven models Ukraine's air defences were built to counter. Because existing Ukrainian interceptors and gun-based defences were designed for slower targets, the higher speed makes the drones harder to track and shoot down, adding pressure on Kyiv's already stretched air defence network as the war continues into its fourth year.
This matters because it could shift the balance between Russia's ability to strike deep into Ukraine and Ukraine's ability to defend its skies, with knock-on consequences for civilians, infrastructure and the wider course of the conflict. It also touches on international concerns about components used in weapons production and the pace at which defensive technology can keep up with offensive innovation.