Russia may have stockpiled around 10,000 conventional Shahed drones, source says

According to sources in Ukraine's Defense Forces, Russia is currently producing around 2,000 Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones each month.

The sources explained that the enemy managed to increase production of these drone variants after halting production of the previous jet-powered model, the Geran-3. In addition, Russia redirected some components to the newer models.

Despite this, further scaling remains uncertain due to its dependence on turbojet engines. As is known, China supplies most of them to the enemy. Insiders also said that Russia is already trying to establish its own production of these engines.

It is important to understand that the enemy also has significant stockpiles of conventional attack drones with piston engines.

Thus, an RBC-Ukraine source reported that as of last week, their number could have reached around 10,000 units.

During air attacks, the enemy combines jet-powered and conventional gasoline-powered Shaheds. The Russians launch them in small groups and waves — two or three, and sometimes four or five aircraft at a time, which may include drones of both types.

"These groups follow one another, stretching attacks over many hours. One purpose of this tactic is to maintain a prolonged aerial threat, exhaust Ukrainian air defenses, and force them to constantly respond to new targets," the material says.

Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported how air defense forces repelled a new Russian overnight attack on October 1 and how many targets they managed to neutralize.

We also reported that Ukraine will purchase tens of thousands of rounds for F-16s to destroy jet-powered drones.