Russia has attacked Ukraine with a new type of long-range drone that uses a powerful jet engine to fly 600 miles with a 200-pound explosive warhead, Kyiv’s military intelligence agency said.
The Ukrainian intelligence directorate, or GUR, released a statement on Sunday providing new details about what it dubbed the “Geran-5.”
GUR said the drone was used during an attack in early 2026.
“Unlike previous modifications of the ‘Geran’ line, the device is made according to a normal aerodynamic scheme,” GUR said, adding that the Geran-5 bears a strong resemblance to Iran’s Karrar attack drone.
Published images showed wreckage of the apparent device on snow-laden ground, which included long fixed wings attached to a slender chassis. Business Insider could not independently verify the location and date of the images.
The Geran-5 is roughly 20 feet long, with a wingspan of about 18 feet, GUR added.
“The warhead weighs about 90 kg, and the declared range is about 1,000 km,” the intelligence agency said.
Russia’s Geran drone family is most often associated with the Iranian-designed Shahed loitering munition. The Geran-1, Geran-2, and Geran-3 are inexpensive, mass-manufactured drones modeled after the Shahed but tweaked for production inside Russia.
While the new drone’s design differs significantly from that of the typical Shahed, GUR said it was being classified as a type of Geran because it shares many key components with Russian Shahed-like drones.
These include a jet engine made by Telefly, a Chinese company, and a microcomputer that GUR said is modeled after Raspberry Pi, a UK-designed low-cost computer that fits on a small board.
The Geran-3, a newer drone resembling Iran’s Shahed-238, was earlier reported by Ukraine to use a Telefly JT80 turbojet engine that allows the device to fly at speeds of up to 230 miles per hour.
GUR said the Telefly engine on the Geran-5 generates even more thrust, but did not give specifics about the drone’s speed.
Ukrainian authorities have said that they’ve found Raspberry Pi 4 computers on Russia’s more commonly used Geran-2s. These drones, modeled after the Shahed-136, are Russia’s main tool in the hundreds-strong waves bombarding Ukraine and require computers for functions such as transmitting navigation data to operators.
Telefly did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider. The Raspberry Pi Foundation did not respond to a similar request sent outside regular business hours.
GUR said that the Geran-5 also uses 3G and 4G modems, as well as a 12-channel Comet, otherwise known as Kometa, satellite navigation system. The Kometa is typically known to use multiple antennas, which makes it more resistant to jamming.
“As with previous ‘geraniums,’ this UAV is difficult to consider as a Russian Federation development,” GUR said.
Notably, the intelligence agency said it had information that Russia is looking to launch the Geran-5 from another aircraft, such as the Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jet.
Using the drone in this way would likely greatly increase its operational range, since the Su-25 can fly out a distance before launching the Geran-5. Russia has typically been launching its older Gerans from ground-based ramps in Western Russia, annexed Crimea, and occupied Ukraine.
“Separately, the possibility of equipping the aircraft with R-73 air-to-air missiles to counter Ukrainian aviation is being considered,” GUR said.
The R-73 is a Soviet-era heat-seeking missile, also known as the AA-11 Archer by NATO, designed to be fired from fighter jets to attack other aircraft.
Ukraine has previously said that it found Russia had mounted some of its Geran-2s with the R-60, an older air-to-air missile, to target aircraft such as helicopters trying to hunt down drones.
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