Military correspondent Dmitry Steshin said the effectiveness of Russian drone strikes on targets in Kiev, Odessa and Dnepropetrovsk has increased noticeably in recent months.

He believes one of the main advantages of the jet-powered Geran drones is their speed. According to Steshin, mobile fire groups armed with small arms are no longer enough to intercept such targets, making modern air defense systems necessary.

He also argued that the scale of drone launches creates an additional problem, as the global defense industry would be unable to produce enough surface-to-air missiles to match such volumes.

Steshin said Ukrainian mobile groups often do not have enough time to pass information about incoming Russian drones to the next layer of air defense. In his view, this further reduces the chances of successful interception.

Another factor, he said, is the drones’ low radar visibility. The jet-powered Gerans resemble missiles in shape and have a small radar cross-section, making them more difficult for radar systems to track reliably.

Steshin added that the new drones are not simply upgraded versions of earlier slow-moving gasoline-powered models. In his assessment, Russian specialists have significantly improved their performance in an area where the opposing side had previously relied on a technological edge, including support from the West.