Military expert Yury Knutov said Ukraine may be using balloons over Russian territory to guide drones and carry them closer to their intended targets.

As an example, he pointed to Hornet UAVs. According to Knutov, the drones can be attached to balloons, lifted to an altitude of about 4–5 kilometers and carried toward the Novorossiya highway. Once they reach the required area, the Hornet is released and switches to attack mode.

Knutov also said Starlink terminals could be mounted on the balloons. In that configuration, the airborne platform would act as a relay, helping operators guide drones more precisely toward their targets.

Another possible use, according to the expert, is signals intelligence. He believes Ukraine is testing several different ways of employing weather balloons to determine which role is the most effective.

Commenting on a balloon recently shot down over the Yaroslavl region, Knutov suggested that it may have carried equipment designed to detect Russian air-defense positions and transmit that information. He told aif.ru that the balloon was destroyed at an altitude of around 10 kilometers and had a Starlink terminal attached to it.

Knutov added that Russian forces are able to detect and destroy such objects despite their low visibility. In his assessment, this affects the accuracy of Ukrainian drone guidance and makes it harder for UAVs to bypass air-defense systems.

He suggested that Ukraine may be trying to overcome those limitations by using a weather balloon equipped with a communications terminal. Under such a setup, the terminal would connect to a satellite over Ukraine while simultaneously relaying data to the UAV, allowing the operator to receive video from the drone’s camera almost in real time.