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Russia is increasingly using jet-powered drones in its mass attacks, counting on the fact that missiles used by Ukraine’s air defences to intercept them are in limited supply.
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According to Ukraine’s Air Force spokesperson Colonel Yurii Ihnat, Moscow is now deploying jet-powered drones “virtually around the clock” alongside other kamikaze UAVs.
Reaching speeds of up to 500 km/h, they can outpace Ukraine’s own interceptor drones.
“These drones are no longer within the reach of interceptor drones, whose speed is up to 300 km/h,” Colonel Ihnat said.
“That means mobile fire groups and anti-drone interceptors can no longer be relied upon,” he added.
“Missiles have to be used, and that is what the Air Force and other units of the defence forces are doing.”
What are jet-powered drones?
“The enemy is constantly changing its tactics for using UAVs, increasing their numbers and improving their quality. The aggressor plans to raise the share of jet-powered strike drones to 50%,” Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi said in early June.
Syrskyi noted that Moscow is indeed making it harder for Ukraine’s air defences to “respond effectively.”
Until recently, most of the Russian Shaheds and other aerial attack systems have been neutralised by Ukrainian interceptors.
Having established domestic production of Shahed-type drones, known as Geran, Moscow focused on further developing them.
In September 2025, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency HUR published new details about the Geran-3, a faster and more advanced version of the Geran-2.
HUR revealed that unlike the Geran-2 which is propeller-driven, Geran-3 had a turbojet engine that allowed the drone to move at speeds of up to 370 km per hour with a range of 1,000 km. The weapon was packed with explosives and detonated on impact after diving toward its target.
Just a few months later, in January 2026, HUR reported that Russian forces for the first time used a new Geran-5 attack drone against Ukraine.
The Telefly jet engine produced greater thrust than the Geran-3 model, according to HUR.
The new drone is approximately 6 metres long with a wingspan of 5.5 metres. Unlike other Geran models, which are based on the Iranian Shahed drones, the Geran-5 is built in a conventional aerodynamic configuration.
Other features resemble those of earlier models in the series, including the 12-channel satellite navigation system Cometa, and a tracker based on the Raspberry Pi microcomputer and 3G/4G modems, HUR said.
The drone can carry a 90kg warhead and has a claimed range of almost 1000 km, meaning it could reach any point in Ukraine.
According to HUR, Russia considered fitting attack aircraft such as the Su-25 with Geran-5s to increase their range.
Ukraine has been forced to expend its highly valued air defence missiles to neutralise and shoot down these jet-powered threats despite limited stockpiles. Ukraine’s interception rate still remains high, consistently exceeding 90%.
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