Why Russia’s jet-powered ‘Geran’ drones are so hard to shoot down, and what Kyiv’s falling interception rate means for the future of the war

Russian forces have changed how they strike Kyiv, launching nearly continuous waves of drone attacks throughout the day rather than only at night, as they did before. The Russian army is also increasingly using jet-powered Geran drones — Russia’s version of the Iranian-designed Shahed — which fly much faster than older, propeller-driven models and are harder to shoot down.

The city has settled into an uneasy new rhythm as a result, The New York Times reported. Shopping centers and stores close several times a day because of air-raid alerts, and a growing number of residents are spending their nights in shelters. Locals believe Russia is trying to “spread chaos.” “They want people to flee Kyiv. They want to interrupt our regular life,” one resident told the newspaper.

“Right now, Russia’s tactic is to wear down Ukraine and Ukrainians — first and foremost, our people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said on Monday that Russian forces had launched more than 1,500 drones over the previous four days, about 800 of them — more than half — jet-powered.

By comparison, Russia fired just 300 jet-powered drones at Ukraine in all of June and about 1,500 of them in July, according to Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine’s president on technology.

Along with the numbers, Russia has changed the pattern of the attacks themselves, the BBC reported: the drones come in smaller batches than before, but more often. Russia now sends over three or four jet-powered drones, sometimes as many as 10, roughly every half hour, the BBC said.

On August 27 alone, Kyiv recorded 13 air-raid alerts lasting a combined 15 hours — a record since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Jet-powered drones are harder to shoot down because of their speed. In the winter of 2026, Ukraine was shooting down 95–98% of propeller-driven Shaheds. On August 27, Ukrainian forces shot down 88% of all drones, conventional and jet-powered alike; on August 31, just 79%.

An unnamed Ukrainian government official told The Wall Street Journal that Ukraine already has drones capable of shooting down the newest Geran models, but only a few hundred of them — far short of the thousands it needs.

Ukraine is working to develop countermeasures against jet-powered drones, and sources in the country’s defense industry told the BBC they expect Ukraine to have a counter within the next month.

As Russian strikes on Kyiv intensify, Ruslan Horbenko, a lawmaker from Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, said Kyiv and the Kyiv region could be officially designated front-line areas. The designation brings benefits including war-risk insurance, exemption from mobilization, and wage guarantees for utility workers. A government resolution to that effect has already been drafted, he said.

The war in photographs: Kyiv

Overnight, Russian forces again struck Kyiv and the surrounding region with ballistic missiles and drones, killing 12 people and injuring more than 20 across the region, according to authorities. Six of the dead were employees of Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s state railway; they were killed in a strike on a rail depot in Kyiv.