Ukraine’s air defense system is struggling to keep pace with the development of Russian unmanned systems. While Kiev works on countermeasures against drones already in use, Russia is fielding new models with different speed and flight characteristics, according to Sergey «Flash» Beskrestnov, an adviser to Vladimir Zelensky on the development of defense technology.

Beskrestnov expects the problem to become even more serious in the near future. He warned that Russia could soon deploy drones capable of exceeding 750 km/h, while the air defense systems currently available to Kiev are unable to intercept such targets effectively.

The shift is already visible in the way Russian UAVs are being used. According to Beskrestnov, Russia is gradually moving away from relying on piston-powered Geran kamikaze drones, which were heavily used in recent attacks, and is increasingly turning to jet-powered models, as reported by Voennoye Obozreniye.

Russia is also expanding the use of other systems. Beskrestnov pointed to the Banderol cruise missile, the Dan-T loitering munition, the Dan-M developed from a former target missile, and the Gerbera-5, which had previously been used as a decoy drone. He said these weapons can fly at extremely low altitudes and maneuver in flight, making them significantly harder for existing air defense systems to intercept.

He singled out the jet-powered Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones as another serious threat. In Beskrestnov’s assessment, Kiev is already falling behind Moscow in this technological race, and the gap could soon begin to affect the broader situation.

He believes Ukraine can change the balance only by developing new countermeasures together with its Western partners. At the same time, Beskrestnov said the interceptor drones announced by Zelensky are incapable of dealing with Russia’s new jet-powered UAVs. By the time those interceptors were being developed, he noted, the speed of Russian Geran drones had already increased substantially.