Russia

Shaheds, Lancets, fiber-optic FPVs and the counter-drone scramble — Russia’s drone war, tracked.

737

Articles

Beats covered

Reporters on beat

Oct 19

Last updated

A crowd of journalists and officials gathered in front of the fire-damaged, partly collapsed National Academy of Sciences building in Kyiv.

Ukraine

Germany Funds Jet-Drone Interceptors As Ukraine's Best Hits 30%

Merz arrived in Kyiv with €1.3 billion, part of it for mass-producing interceptors against Russia's jet Shaheds. Zelensky says the best one downs 30% of targets.

Haye KestelooOct 4

Russia

Russia's Geran-4 Runs On A $25,000 Hobby Jet, Texas Instruments Chips

RFE/RL took apart a Geran-4 Seeker: a $25,000 Chinese hobby turbojet, two SIM cards, a mesh modem, Texas Instruments chips. Russia builds 3,000 a month.

Haye KestelooSep 28

Ukrainian soldiers loading a machine-gun ammunition belt into a tracked unmanned ground vehicle

Ukraine

Ukraine Air-Drops Kamikaze Robots 12 Miles Behind Russian Lines

Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps flies explosive ground robots over the front under heavy bomber drones, and credits the tactic with 48 square miles retaken.

Haye KestelooSep 27

Lineup of AI-generated military robots including a humanoid, quadrupeds, a tracked snake robot and gun carts in a foggy field

Ukraine

Fedorov Wants A Humanoid Robot Killing Russians Within Six Months

Fired as defense minister in July, the man behind Ukraine's Army of Drones launched an Army of Robots and set a six-month target for a humanoid kill.

Haye KestelooSep 26

Damaged white fixed-wing drone with a serial number on its tail fin, lying on grass in front of a red tent

Counter-Drone

France and Italy Deny CIA Warned of Russian Ship-Launched Drones

Macron and Italy's defense minister deny a report that the CIA warned of Russian Gerbera drones launched from ships in the Mediterranean.

Haye KestelooSep 24

Rear view of a dark delta-wing jet drone with glowing engine exhaust flying above a cloud layer at sunset, still from SBU footage released September 19, 2026

Ukraine

Ukraine's SBU Films First Jet Shahed Kill, Won't Name the Interceptor

Zelensky released the first video of a jet-powered Shahed downed by a Ukrainian interceptor drone. Kyiv is withholding the maker, cost and kill count.

Haye KestelooSep 19

No Drone Zone warning sign mounted on a brick perimeter wall

Counter-Drone

UK Bases Logged 340 Drone Incidents in a Year. The MoD Names Nobody

MoD figures show 340 drone incidents at British military sites in a year, up from 126 in 2024. The ministry credits better detection and names no culprit.

Haye KestelooSep 19

Tail section of a crashed drone lying on a sandy beach beside the water

Counter-Drone

Russian Drone Off Poland Carried a Live Warhead. Its Route Is Unknown

Polish prosecutors say the Gerbera 2 pulled from the Baltic near Rusinowo was armed with a fragmentation warhead, destroyed on the beach Tuesday.

Haye KestelooSep 16

Russia

The drone industry moves fast. Stay ahead of it.