Russia's jet Geran drones hit Ukraine daily, outpacing air defences — SkimNews
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- Russia's upgraded jet-powered Geran drones were launched against Ukraine every day throughout August, the first such sustained daily use recorded in Ukrainian Air Force data, with monthly launches jumping from 350 in June to 2,800 in August.
- The drones cruise above 300 mph via turbojet engines—some sourced from China, according to Ukrainian military intelligence—and in five August attacks outnumbered Russia's older, slower models.
- President Zelensky condemned the assaults as an unfolding "horror" over Kyiv's skies after the drones were used in a September 1 wave that killed at least 12 and injured 20, including six railway workers struck at a Kyiv depot.
- A Russian jet-powered drone entered Moldovan airspace on Tuesday, delaying a plane carrying Zelensky at Chisinau airport, the Moldovan government said.
- Ukraine's interception rate of long-range drones had reached 94% earlier this year, but Deputy Head of Military Intelligence Maj Gen Vadym Skibitskyi said on 10 August that forces need new interceptor missiles to match the jet drones' speed.
- Four Ukrainian companies are testing missiles designed to down the new Gerans, and new Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara has tasked them with producing "thousands of units" as quickly as possible.
- Russia is now launching complex attacks involving hundreds of drones and missiles about once a week and using over 15 times as many drones per attack as four years ago, according to BBC Verify analysis of Air Force data, while Ukraine stopped publishing ballistic-missile interception figures in August.
Why it matters: Moscow's shift to cheap, faster turbojet drones—blurring the line with cruise missiles per analyst John Hardie—is collapsing Kyiv's once-strong 94% interception rate and straining a global air-defence supply already tightened by the US-Israeli war with Iran, giving Ukraine's four missile-testing firms an urgent deadline to field interceptors capable of catching 300+ mph targets.
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