Russian Geran-4 jet drones flew up to 880 km from Crimea to western Ukraine, expert says
Ukrainian communications expert Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov says dozens of Russian jet-powered drones were launched from Crimea in recent days, with four reaching Lviv and several flying on to Lutsk. The claim is unconfirmed by officials.
Russia has launched several dozen jet-powered Geran-4 drones from Crimea towards western Ukraine over the past few days, with some covering about 880 kilometres to reach Lutsk, Ukrainian communications and drone expert Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov said on 13 October 2026. The account comes from a single Telegram post and has not been confirmed by the Air Force or other Ukrainian officials.
What the expert says
According to Beskrestnov, the drones flew from Crimea past Odesa and along the Moldovan border into the western part of the country. Four of them reached Lviv, covering about 820 kilometres, he wrote. Several others flew on to Lutsk, the administrative centre of the Volyn region, at a distance of about 880 kilometres.
To cover such distances, he said, the Geran-4 drones flew at an altitude of 5–6 kilometres and held an average speed of 320–380 km/h. Geran-4 is the Russian designation for a jet-powered version of the Iranian-designed Shahed attack drone. The slower, propeller-driven Geran-2 has been the type most commonly used in Russian strikes.
Beskrestnov concluded that Russia is studying how to attack Ukraine's western regions with jet-powered Shaheds from different directions. He said the Geran-4's maximum range proved "somewhat greater than expected".
Warhead assumption
He added that it is "not ruled out" that Russia reduced the drone's warhead to reach such a distance. This is his own assumption. He did not present evidence for it, and it is not a confirmed fact.
What is not known
Beskrestnov did not give exact dates for the flights, only "the past few days". His post did not say whether the drones struck targets, were shot down, or caused damage or casualties in Lviv or Lutsk. The figures on distance, altitude and speed are his own and could not be independently verified. The Ukrainian Air Force and regional authorities have not commented on them in the material available to RealUA.
Beskrestnov is a well-known Ukrainian specialist in radio-electronic warfare and communications, and he regularly comments on Russian drone technology on Telegram.
Background
The use of jet-powered drones has been rising in recent official reporting. Ukraine's General Staff said Russia launched 116 attack drones overnight into 11 October, 95 of them jet-powered, and that air defence downed 94. Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara has separately claimed that Ukraine's Bars interceptor drones destroyed five of five Russian jet-powered drones, a claim for which no details were given and which is unverified.
Lviv, in western Ukraine near the Polish border, and Lutsk, in the north-west, are both far from the front line and from Crimea. Beskrestnov's account suggests Russia is testing long-range routes towards those regions rather than the more usual approaches from the east and south.
