Jet drones: Geran-3 and Geran-5 near the Baltics and Poland

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How jet drones differ from the Geran-2

	Geran-2	Geran-3	Geran-4	Geran-5
Speed	About 185 km/h (ABC)	300 to 370 km/h; some reports say 550 to 600 km/h (CSIS)	Up to 500 km/h (Ukrainian intelligence)	Up to 600 km/h (HUR)
Range	Up to 2,500 km (UNITED24, no source named)	Up to 1,000 km (UNITED24); 1,000 to 2,000 km in other estimates (CSIS)	850 km (Ukrainian intelligence); 960 km observed (UNITED24)	Nearly 1,000 km (HUR)
Warhead	50 kg (ABC); newer variants up to 90 kg (UNITED24)	Payload of 50 to 90 kg (CSIS)	50 or 90 kg (UNITED24)	90 kg (UNITED24, Kyiv Post)

These are claims. Drones & Defense notes that every published specification for the Geran-4 and Geran-5 comes from Ukrainian intelligence, and that no Russian maker, ministry or independent laboratory has released engineering data. Samuel Bendett of the Center for a New American Security told ABC News that the 1,000 km range is "claimed" and that realistic use over Ukraine may be shorter.

Launch counts disagree too. Ukrainian officials, cited by ABC, gave about 1,500 jet drones in July and 3,500 by September, while an Estonian defence ministry official, Gert Kaju, cited the Ukrainian side on 25 September as saying about 1,900 for that month (ERR radio news).

Latest incidents

Jet drone incidents near Poland in 2026

All of these happened over Ukraine, and each time Poland reported no violation of its airspace.

Date	Place	What happened	Reported by
13 Sep	Near the Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossing	More than ten Geran-5 hit western Ukraine, one about 1 km and another 5 km from the border. A train locomotive was reported hit about 2 km away and a truck about 0.8 km away. Poland flew F-16s, helicopters and a Saab surveillance aircraft.	Defence minister Kosiniak-Kamysz; Kyiv Independent; Al Jazeera
17 Sep	Near Yahodyn, about 4 km from the border	A fast object exploded or was shot down. The command first said it could be a jet drone or a missile, then spoke of jet drones. Sirens and RCB alerts in two provinces; Lublin and Rzeszów paused flights.	Polish Operational Command; Prime Minister Tusk; deputy minister Tomczyk
28 Sep	About 2 km from the Dorohusk crossing	A jet drone hit the Ukrainian side. Dorohusk and Zosin stopped checks and evacuated until about 17:20. Militarnyi calls it a Geran-5 and puts it a few hundred metres from the crossing; the minister and the command named no type.	Kosiniak-Kamysz; PAP; Militarnyi
20 Oct	Near Yavoriv, about 15 km from the border	Drones, jet-powered ones among them, flew over western Ukraine and one hit a target. The spokesman did not say whether that one was a jet type.	Operational Command spokesman Goryszewski, via Defence24

In Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, no drone recorded in this monitor's 2026 issues has been officially described as a jet type. The nearest NATO case is Romania: on 17 October two F-16s shot down two jet Geran-family drones over Romanian waters in the Black Sea, and defence minister Radu Miruță said their 450 km/h speed pointed to the Geran-4.

Gerbera is a different drone

The Gerbera is a plywood and foam drone with a small piston engine, built to look like a Shahed and draw air defence fire. Ukraine's sanctions database lists a top speed of 160 km/h. Some carry explosives, with observed warheads of up to 5 kg.

Two September cases involved this family. On 15 September Italian fighter jets from Šiauliai shot down a drone in Lithuania's Kaišiadorys district, and explosives were found in the wreck. President Nausėda called it a Gerbera type, probably bound for Ukraine and diverted by Ukrainian jamming; defence minister Kaunas confirmed it was Russian without naming the model. On 14 September Polish troops recovered a drone from the sea off Rusinowo, and prosecutors later described it, preliminarily, as a Gerbera-2 with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead.

What air defences do about them

Methods built for piston-engine drones, such as mobile gun teams and cheap interceptor drones, no longer suffice against the Geran-5, the Kyiv Independent reported on 1 October. Prototype interceptors, STING S and P1-SUN Jetkiller among them, have downed a small number. President Zelensky said on 28 September that 57% of jet drones were being shot down; the Institute for the Study of War later put it at about 75%, according to ABC.

Poland has so far flown aircraft and put ground air defences and radar on readiness. Deputy defence minister Cezary Tomczyk said on 17 September that pre-authorisation had been issued to shoot these drones down. Tusk said the same day that they fly faster and higher before diving on a target, and that countering them is still a challenge.

Estonia is debating light aircraft. Defence minister Martin Herem said Ukraine downs these drones with F-16s, "but for us that is too expensive", and the L-39 and L-159 have been named as options. ERR reports about a dozen aircraft within four years, with no decision on type, cost or basing. Its AK+ programme said on 1 November that a light fighter could cost up to EUR 20 million without weapons, maintenance or pilot training.

Frequently asked questions

What is a jet drone?

A one-way attack drone with a small turbojet in place of a propeller. Russia's reported types are the Geran-3, Geran-4 and Geran-5.

How fast is the Geran-5?

Up to 600 km/h, according to Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR), about three times the Geran-2's 185 km/h. Russia has published no specification.

Has a jet drone entered Poland, Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia?

This monitor found no official report of that up to 3 November 2026. Among the closest reported impacts are those of 13 September, about 0.8 km and 1 km from the Polish border, on the Ukrainian side. Militarnyi puts the 28 September strike a few hundred metres from the Yahodyn crossing. Some objects that crossed the region's airspace were never publicly identified, so the record covers only what authorities have said.

Was the drone shot down in Lithuania a jet drone?

No source describes it as one. President Nausėda called it a Gerbera type, which is a propeller design, and the defence minister confirmed only that it was Russian.

Sources

This page is maintained alongside the daily digests; the list of related issues above updates automatically.