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Shahed drones - Page 18

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Russia's faster Shaheds could rival ballistic missiles this winter

A few months ago, the only particularly serious threat to Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities came from Russian and North Korean ballistic missiles. As the Ukrainian mil-tech industry and air defense units perfected their ability to intercept the common "Shahed" drones (now officially called Geran-2, although Ukrainians stick to the original Iranian name), raising the shoot-down rate to 90–95%, a shortage of anti-ballistic interceptor missiles seemed to be the main issue facing Ukraine in the upcom

Rescue workers put out a fire at a building damaged in a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 25, 2026.

About Shahed drones

Shahed drones are Iranian-designed unmanned combat aerial vehicles and loitering munitions developed by Shahed Aviation Industries. Manufactured both in Iran and at Russian production facilities, the drones have become one of Russia’s primary weapons in its full-scale war against Ukraine. Russia first deployed Shahed drones against Ukraine in the fall of 2022, and their use has since escalated, with Moscow launching more than 54,500 Shahed-type UAVs against Ukrainian targets in 2025 alone.

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