IRIA News

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Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) spokesperson Andrii Yusov has recently unveiled that Russia is ramping up its “kamikaze” drone production capabilities and is now capable of manufacturing up to 2,700 Shahed-type “kamikaze” drones each month.

Yusov said in a recent interview that Moscow has “increased the production of Geran-2s, plus a significant number of dummies.” He added that Russia has also been integrating drones into combined strike packages that include cruise missiles and guided bombs.

“We see hundreds of Shaheds being used with missiles in combined strikes,” Yusov said, describing the challenge for both Ukrainian forces and their Western partners supplying air defense systems.

Expanding Drone Production

Ukrainian military intelligence estimates that Russia can now produce approximately 2,700 Shahed-type drones per month. These drones, also known by their Russian designation Geran-2, are variants of Iranian-designed Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drones.

In addition to combat-ready UAVs, the Russian industry has increased the production of decoy drones without warheads, designed solely to draw Ukrainian fire and mislead defensive systems.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, since the beginning of September alone, Russia has attacked Ukraine with more than 1,300 strike drones, nearly 900 guided aerial bombs, and about 50 missiles.

Largest Drone Assault

On the night of September 6–7, 2025, Ukraine experienced the most extensive drone attack since the beginning of the full-scale conflict in February 2022. Russian forces launched 810 Shahed-type attack drones, accompanied by multiple decoy and imitation UAVs designed to confuse radar and exhaust air defense systems. Alongside the drones, Russian units deployed nine Iskander-K cruise missiles and four Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles.

Ukraine’s air defenses managed to intercept 747 drones and four of the cruise missiles. Despite these interceptions, 54 strike drones and nine missiles penetrated defenses, striking 33 separate locations and leaving debris at eight additional sites. The attacks caused civilian casualties and inflicted damage on residential areas, infrastructure, and industrial facilities.

This strike followed a pattern of increasingly large-scale aerial assaults. Between late August and early September, Russia conducted multiple strikes of over 500 drones each. On August 27, Ukrainian officials reported 598 drones launched; on August 29, 537 drones; and on September 2, 502 drones were launched towards Ukraine.

Ukrainian media outlets highlighted that such figures mark a sharp escalation compared to earlier in the war, when Russian forces typically deployed a few hundred UAVs at most. The outlet suggested that the scale of these recent attacks could either signal higher production capacity within Russia or reflect a deliberate strategy to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses by sheer volume.

The Iran Connection

The Shahed drones currently used in Ukraine originated in Iran. In 2022, Tehran and Moscow reached a deal under which Iran would supply Russia with hundreds of Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 drones. These weapons were soon adapted into Russian service under the names Geran-1 and Geran-2. The drones are relatively inexpensive to produce, costing tens of thousands of dollars each, and can carry explosive warheads designed to target infrastructure, fuel depots, and civilian areas.

Initially, Russia relied on direct deliveries from Iran, with Iranian engineers reportedly providing technical support. Over time, however, Moscow established its own domestic production facilities to reduce dependency on imports and increase output. By 2024, Western intelligence agencies assessed that Russia had developed a capacity to fully manufacture Shahed-type drones domestically on a large scale.

The Iran-Russia drone partnership has attracted widespread international attention. The United States and European allies have accused Tehran of fueling the war in Ukraine by enabling Russia’s drone program, while Iranian officials have denied supplying drones for active combat use. Regardless of these denials, evidence gathered on the battlefield, including drone fragments recovered in Ukraine, has repeatedly pointed to Iranian origins.

Impact on Ukraine’s Air Defenses

The growing reliance on drones has reshaped the battlefield. Shahed drones fly at relatively low speeds and altitudes, making them vulnerable to air defense systems. However, their mass deployment presents a unique problem: when launched in swarms of hundreds, they can saturate Ukrainian defenses, forcing anti-aircraft batteries to expend large amounts of ammunition. Even if most are intercepted, the few that break through can cause significant damage.

For Ukraine, countering these mass assaults requires not only advanced Western-supplied systems like NASAMS, IRIS-T, and Patriot, but also many cheaper interceptors and electronic warfare tools. Recognizing this challenge, Zelensky announced in July a national initiative to produce at least 1,000 interceptor drones daily, aiming to reduce reliance on costly imported systems.

Whether the production surge of drones by Russia is a short-term or a long-term strategy, strategy remains uncertain. Analysts note that Russia’s reported monthly capacity of 2,700 drones would allow for continued attacks of several hundred drones per night while still maintaining reserves.

For Ukraine, the growing intensity of these strikes adds urgency to the call for more air defense support from allies. At the same time, the repeated use of drones highlights how unmanned systems have become central to modern conflict, with their relatively low cost and mass-deployment potential altering traditional calculations of air power.

Strategic Implications

Russia’s large-scale deployment of Shahed-type drones represents one of the most significant evolutions of the war in Ukraine. What began as limited drone usage in 2022 has expanded into a campaign of mass aerial strikes capable of overwhelming sophisticated defense systems. Backed by increased domestic production capacity of 2,700 drones per month and earlier cooperation with Iran, Moscow now appears prepared to sustain a prolonged drone war.

For Ukraine, the challenge lies not only in intercepting the growing swarms but also in developing long-term solutions to neutralize this evolving threat. With both sides adapting their tactics, the drone war is set to remain a central feature of the conflict.