An analysis of Ukrainian Air Force data conducted by BBC Verify has uncovered a significant escalation in Russia’s air campaign against Ukraine: throughout the entire month of August, Moscow launched daily strikes using its newly upgraded, high-speed jet-powered Geran drones, a weapon that Kyiv’s existing air defense systems are currently ill-equipped to counter. This marks the first recorded instance of daily attacks using these modified drones since the start of the conflict, and the growing frequency of their deployment has drawn sharp condemnation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who decried the unfolding “horror” over Ukraine’s capital and other cities across the country.
Data shared with the BBC by Ukraine’s military illustrates the stark, rapid growth in the use of these jet-propelled munitions. Attacks climbed from just 350 in June to 1,600 in July, before surging to 2,800 in August alone. On five separate nights of August strikes, the newer jet-powered drones outnumbered Russia’s older, slower propeller-driven models that Kyiv has had more success intercepting.
Military technology experts explain Russia’s shift to jet-powered drones as a direct response to Ukraine’s previous success in downing older, slower unmanned aerial vehicles. “The reason for turning to jet-powered drones is that they are much faster than the previous generation and it makes it much more difficult for Ukraine to intercept them,” explained Dr. Marina Miron, a specialist in military technology at King’s College London. The upgraded Geran drones can cruise at speeds exceeding 300 miles per hour, a major jump over older models that puts them well beyond the maximum speed of many of Ukraine’s existing interceptor platforms. According to Ukrainian military intelligence, some of the turbojet engines powering these new drones are sourced from China, a claim that adds a new layer of international dimension to the conflict.
The human cost of this escalating drone campaign has already been severe. On September 1, a mass wave of attacks including these new drones left at least 12 people dead and 20 more injured, according to Zelenskyy. Six of those killed were railway workers at a targeted depot in Kyiv.
Earlier in the conflict, Ukraine boasted a 94% interception rate for Russian long-range drones, a major success for Kyiv’s air defenses. But the introduction of high-speed jet-powered drones has upended that balance, triggering a new round of the ongoing arms race between the two nations. In mid-August, Ukrainian military intelligence deputy head Major General Vadymym Skibitskyi noted that Kyiv urgently needs new interceptor missiles designed to match the speed of these advanced drones.
In response to the threat, four domestic Ukrainian defense companies have already begun testing domestically produced missiles capable of shooting down the upgraded Geran models, Kyiv officials confirmed. Ukraine’s new defense minister Yevhenii Khmara has issued a mandate for the firms to ramp up production to “thousands of units” as quickly as possible to close the air defense gap.
Beyond tactical advantages, analysts point to economic incentives driving Russia’s investment in jet-powered drones. John Hardie, an analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a national security-focused think tank, noted that the improved speed and maneuverability of the new drones have blurred the line between low-cost unmanned drones and far more expensive traditional cruise missiles. “Long-range one-way attack drones are basically a poor man’s cruise missile,” Hardie explained. “The more you add capability to a drone, the less meaningful the distinction between the drone and a lower-end cruise missile.”
However, independent arms research group Conflict Armament Research emphasizes that jet-powered drones are not yet on par with full-size cruise missiles. The group notes the new munitions have a shorter operational range, carry smaller explosive warheads, and remain more vulnerable to electronic jamming systems than their more costly counterparts.
Satellite imagery further confirms that Russia is preparing to scale up its use of these drones long-term. The imagery shows Moscow has overhauled and expanded key military facilities dedicated to its war effort in Ukraine to accommodate jet drone operations, with extended rail infrastructure needed to transport the munitions visible at a newly constructed drone base in Tsymbulova, located in Russia’s Oryol region. The base, which sits roughly 175 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, includes multiple purpose-built launch sites. Before September 2024, the Oryol region was never named as a Russian drone launch site in Ukrainian Air Force reports; by August 2026, it was cited in nearly every recorded attack.
The expanding use of jet-powered drones aligns with a broader shift in Russia’s strike strategy, BBC Verify found. Moscow now carries out large, complex combined strikes involving hundreds of drones and missiles roughly once per week, a major increase from earlier in the war. RAND Corporation analyst Michael Bohnert told BBC Verify that the growth in strike size stems from Moscow’s new tactic of combining a “greater variety of munitions” — including jet-powered drones and decoy drones — alongside costly, nearly impossible-to-intercept ballistic missiles. Ukrainian military data shows Russia now deploys more than 15 times the number of drones per strike than it did four years ago at the start of the full-scale invasion.
Bohnert added that this increasingly complex attack strategy, combined with a global shortage of advanced air defense systems capable of stopping ballistic missiles — a shortage exacerbated by regional conflicts including the U.S.-Israeli confrontation with Iran — has driven down Ukraine’s interception rates. Ukrainian Air Force data showed a steady drop in successful ballistic missile interceptions through the end of July, and in August, Kyiv halted public disclosure of interception rate figures, drawing a veil over its current defensive capabilities.