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Russia’s revised drone attack strategy against Ukraine
Russian forces appear to have altered their strategy for attacks using unmanned aerial systems against Ukraine, having acknowledged the effectiveness of the country’s air defences against conventional Shahed-type drones. Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, told a Ukrainian outlet that the Kremlin has begun reserving its faster platforms - Geran-4 jet drones and Banderol cruise missiles - for strikes on Ukrainian cities in the rear. Traditional diesel-powered Shahed drones, meanwhile, are now being used only in border areas and locations close to the line of contact.
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Shahed drones remain effective near the front line
According to the adviser, conventional Shahed drones remain effective in those areas, whereas their use against targets deeper inside Ukrainian territory is constrained by the layers of air defence deployed by Kyiv. “Behind the front line, they are using jet drones and relying on Geran-4 and Banderol missiles,” Beskrestnov said.
The abandonment of the Geran-3
The official also confirmed that Russia has abandoned the Geran-3, the previous generation in the kamikaze drone family derived from the Iranian Shahed-136, because its speed proved inadequate against the development of Ukrainian defences. Production efforts have therefore been focused on the Geran-4, a jet-powered model which - according to earlier Ukrainian intelligence reports - could reach an estimated top speed of 500km/h and a range of 550 km, far exceeding the subsonic performance of the Geran-3.
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The Banderol as a precision-strike complement
Alongside the deployment of the Geran-4, Russia has stepped up its use of the S8000 Banderol cruise missile, a system originally identified as part of the payload carried by Orion drones and whose integration onto Mil Mi-28 attack helicopters had already been reported in previous weeks.
More specifically, the Banderol is intended to strike fixed targets with pre-set coordinates - including port infrastructure, logistics centres, terminals and depots - at a stated range of up to 500km and a cruising speed of roughly 650km/h. These characteristics make it a more precise alternative to the mass use of drones.
This apparent shift in Russia’s approach would form part of the constant adaptation strategy that characterises Russian attacks against Ukraine, in which every advance in Ukraine’s interception capabilities - whether through Patriot systems, F-16, Mirage 2000-5 and MiG-29 fighters, or lower-cost interceptors such as Alexa Spatium drones - compels Moscow to diversify its platforms and flight profiles.
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