COLUMN: Drones Flying Under the Wings of the Gerans — Saviez-vous Que? — Tous les jours, découvrez de nouvelles infos pour briller en société !

Primary Sources:

Office of the President of Ukraine, meeting of the Commander-in-Chief’s General Staff: Production of interceptors against jet-powered “Shahed” drones must be accelerated; prototypes have been developed, deadlines set, and private companies involved in the production, delivery, and installation of air defense systems; Ukrainian intelligence has been informed of the adversary’s production plans, September 3, 2026

Office of the President of Ukraine, meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and owners and executives of retail chains (grocery stores, hardware stores, hypermarkets, online marketplaces): operations under constant alert, distribution networks affected, decentralization of warehouses, labor shortages, weekly videoconferences, and an operational information center at the Ministry of Economy, September 2, 2026

Office of the President of Ukraine, measures in response to Russian tactics: expansion of loans at 5%, 7%, and 9% to logistics companies; two alert levels—yellow and red—proposed by Prime Minister Koretski; revision of the curfew; modular and mobile shelters; audits of municipal administrations; additional anti-aircraft missiles confirmed by Germany, September 2, 2026

UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, protection of civilians in armed conflict, July 2026: 437 civilians killed and 2,610 wounded, a 30% increase from June, the deadliest month since May 2022; long-range weapons accounted for 183 killed and 967 wounded, or 38% of the total; 17 children killed and 166 wounded; Kyiv: 54 and 202, August 12, 2026

UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, June 2026: 293 civilians killed and 1,990 wounded; long-range weapons accounted for 126 killed and 907 wounded, or 45% of the total; the majority of long-range casualties occurred in cities far from the front lines, July 14, 2026

UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, report on attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, December 1, 2025, to May 31, 2026: power and heating outages affecting hundreds of thousands of civilians; schools closed; water supply cut off in apartment buildings; indoor temperatures below the threshold recommended by the World Health Organization, June 29, 2026

Secondary Sources:

Euromaidan Press: Russia attaches two small attack drones to the wings of its long-range Geran drones and drops them deep into Ukraine; controlled via standard SIM cards over mobile networks without onboard relays; low number of successful strikes; no heavy military payload; tests conducted for about a year on Geran, Molniya, and Gerbera drones; comments by Serhii “Flash” ” Beskrestnov, September 3, 2026

Euromaidan Press: Russia is now attacking Kyiv during the day as well: mobile fire units can no longer intercept the jet-powered Geran drones; air raid alerts approximately every hour; transportation and rail systems paralyzed; businesses closing and reopening; air defense on constant alert—according to Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, September 3, 2026

UNIAN, Russian FPV drone spotted in the Kyiv region with no confirmation that a Shahed dropped it: two FPVs attached to the wings and then released; a similar case documented a week earlier in Konotop in the Sumy region; unstable control via SIM cards; the speed of jet-powered models complicating the release, September 3, 2026

Glavcom, interview with Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, advisor to the Ukrainian president on defense technology policy: Geran-4 flying at 300–500 km/h and accounting for approximately 60% of launches; range of 500–600 km and up to 900 km; target of 3,000 jet-powered drones per month at the Ielabuga plant; two Russian mobile modems and SIM cards per unit; Belarusian roaming; interception rate exceeding 80%, jet engine costing $30,000–$40,000, anti-aircraft missiles at half a million, 25 alerts in two days in Kyiv, 2026

Glavcom, why the Russians are now launching “Shaheds” during the day: the ineffectiveness of mobile firing units against jet-powered models, 24-hour surveillance imposed on air defense, disrupted stores and transportation, paralyzed railways, five air alerts in Kyiv on September 2, 2026, remarks by Serhii “Flash ” Beskrestnov, September 2, 2026

Militarnyi: The Darknode unit shot down a Shahed (Geran-2) configured as an FPV drone carrier for the first time on the night of March 10, 2026: two FPV drones attached to the wing, one on each side; the aircraft was destroyed before any drones could be released; the drones’ intended mission—whether reconnaissance, relay, or strike—remains unclear; similar incidents were reported in mid-February over the Sumy region, 2026

Army Recognition, conversion of the Geran-2 into an FPV drone carrier for deep-strike missions: 3.5 meters long, 2.5-meter wingspan, MD-550 piston engine at the rear, satellite guidance, payload of approximately 50 kg and up to 90 kg on Russian variants, range of 1,000 to 2,000 km, typical FPV range of 10 to 20 km and over 50 km with relays, 2026

Militarnyi: The Darknode unit of the 412th Nemesis Regiment of the Unmanned Systems Forces shoots down 100 kamikaze drones using interceptors: 76 Shahed-136s and 24 Gerberas; interceptors cost approximately $5,000 compared to up to $1 million for an anti-aircraft missile; maximum speed of 200 km/h and altitude of 5,000 meters; 52 drones shot down on April 28, 2025

Militarnyi: Formation of the Darknode unit by the Unmanned Systems Forces in April 2025 to shoot down Russian attack drones: cost of approximately $5,000 per interceptor compared to over $150,000 for a Shahed, with a speed of 200 km/h and a service ceiling of 5 km

Militarnyi, Russian 9K333 Verba man-portable system mounted on a Shahed shot down by soldiers of the Darknode battalion: 9M336 missile manufactured in 2025, range up to 6,000–6,400 meters, altitude from 3,500 to 4,500 meters, adopted by the Russian military in 2015, Kolomna design bureau; Swiss Traco Power converter among the components; January 2026

Kyiv Post, first Russian Gerbera converted into an FPV drone carrier: photos of debris published by Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, foam fuselage, aircraft in service since 2024 as a decoy, electronic reconnaissance or strike drone, craft dropped but not recovered at the crash site, February 3, 2026

Ukrainska Pravda, video of an FPV drone being dropped from a Gerbera over Sumy, shared by Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov: a daily occurrence, according to him; Gerbera assembled in Yelabuga; airframe mimicking the Shahed-136/Geran-2; used to saturate Ukrainian air defenses, February 9, 2026

Euromaidan Press, explosive FPV drones launched by Gerbera carriers and found more than 30 kilometers from the border, on the ground and on the roofs of residential buildings; cost of approximately $500 for a jamming-resistant fiber-optic FPV; previous use of the Molniya as a carrier without a relay; warning from Serhii “Flash ” Beskrestnov against any suspicious objects, May 8, 2026

Voennoe Delo, according to UNIAN: attachment points for FPV drones discovered on the wreckage of downed Molniya and Gerbera drones; extension of the drones’ operational range and increased danger to Ukrainian rear areas, February 18, 2026

LB.ua, statement from the Ukrainian Air Force on September 1, 2026, at 8:30 a.m.: 218 attack drones—about one-third of which were jet-powered—launched from Kursk, Millerovo, Oryol, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, occupied Donetsk, Gvardiiské, and Crimea; Iskander-M, Zircon, Kalibr, Kh-31P, and Banderol missiles; 199 targets shot down or neutralized; 28 sites hit; and 10 debris impact sites

DSnews: An air raid alert was issued in Kyiv around 9:50 a.m. on September 1, 2026, and an approaching jet-powered drone was reported by the air force; a fire broke out on the 14th and 15th floors of a sixteen-story building in the Podilskyi district; a drone crashed near a five-story building in Sviatochyne; casualty figures from the previous night reported by Mayor Vitali Klitschko

TSN, September 1, 2026, attack on Kyiv: five districts affected, eight dead, five injured—including three children—six railway workers killed at a depot; casualty figures from the city’s military administration, city hall, and the State Emergency Service

Associated Press via ABC News, sixth consecutive day of strikes on Kyiv: an attack lasting more than twelve hours began at 6 p.m. on Monday, 218 drones, about a third of which were jet-powered; eight dead in the capital and four in the region; fifth school year since the invasion; six Ukrzaliznytsia employees killed, according to its president Oleksandr Pertsovskyi; 350 rescue workers deployed, according to Volodymyr Zelensky, September 1, 2026

PBS NewsHour: At least twelve dead on the sixth consecutive day of Russian airstrikes on Kyiv, involving cruise and ballistic missiles, jet-powered drones, glide bombs, and artillery; the Kyiv, Odessa, and Zhytomyr regions targeted; September 1, 2026

We Ukraine, statement from the Ukrainian Air Force for the night of September 3, 2026: 163 attack drones of various types, including jet-powered Shaheds, Banderol S8000s, Gerberas, and decoys; 135 targets shot down or neutralized; 15 sites hit and 4 sites where debris fell, launched from Millerovo, Oryol, occupied Donetsk, and Gvardiiské in Crimea

UNIAN, Ukrainian Air Force report for the night of September 1, 2026: 5 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, 2 Banderol S8000, 5 Kalibr, and 187 drones shot down or neutralized; 28 impact sites and 10 debris impact sites; main directions of attack on the Odessa and Kyiv regions

Primary Sources:

Secondary Sources:

Comments