On March 17, 2026, Sergei Shoigu stood in Yekaterinburg and said something Russian officials had avoided saying out loud: no region of the country is safe from Ukrainian drones. Shoigu, who heads Russia’s Security Council, put the number of Ukrainian drone attacks at around 6,200 in 2024 and over 23,000 in 2025. He pointed to a strike on the Aviastar aircraft factory in Ulyanovsk, about 1,800 km from the Ukrainian border, as proof that the distance records had gone. The Urals, he warned, now sit in a direct threat zone.
So what is actually flying that far?
Cheap, slow and many
The weapons are one-way attack drones, in the jargon OWA-UAVs. Russia uses Iranian-designed Shaheds mostly to stretch Ukrainian air defences and clear a path for pricier cruise missiles. Ukraine does the same in big packages, but it also sends these drones on very long flights at strategic targets such as oil storage sites and airfields. Analyst H I Sutton, who maintains the Covert Shores guide to these aircraft, lists several reasons: the targets matter, the raids remind Russians that a war is on, and they drag Russian air defences far from the front.
The early days were improvised. In August 2022 Ukraine used the Chinese commercial Mugin-5 against the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol. Home-built designs have since replaced it.
The workhorses
The Ukrjet UJ-22 Airborne looks like a light aircraft, with a tractor propeller and fixed undercarriage. It is about 3.7 meters long, carries up to 20 kg and is reported to reach 800 km. It was used against Moscow in February 2023.
The UJ-26 Beaver, or Bober, appeared in 2023 and has reportedly gone into mass production. Its range is in the order of 1,000 km, with a 20 kg payload.
The An-196 Liutyi, the Fierce, is the heavy hitter. Deputy Minister for Strategic Industries Anna Gvozdyar revealed the design in November 2022, and it is an Antonov and Ukroboronprom product. Defense Magazine describes a range beyond 1,000 km and a payload around 75 kg, with inertial navigation, satellite links and machine vision for the final approach. It has been central to strikes on Moscow, refineries and airbases, the magazine said.
Others fill niches. The AQ-400 Scythe, a volunteer project now in serial production, flies 750 km with 32 kg, and can take up to 70 kg if it gives up some range. The FP-1 and FP-2 became household names in Ukraine’s strategic campaign; the FP-2 carries over 100 kg but only to around 200 km. Newer arrivals stretch the envelope. The Sichen, also called Behemoth, in its later black-airframe form uses Starlink and has an estimated range of 1,400 km. The Zozulia from the firm Warbirds, shown in 2025, is reported at 2,100 km with a lighter warhead and about 1,000 km with 50 kg.
Getting through
These drones fly low, follow terrain, use decoys and arrive in numbers. In early 2026, Defense Magazine noted, swarms of 100 to 200 drones a night had become common. Some cost as little as $55,000, a fraction of what Russia spends to shoot them down. Top-end ranges have doubled in recent years, from 500 km to over 1,000 km.
Distance does not guarantee a hit. On April 2, 2024, a converted Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat ultralight was filmed diving into a factory in Yelabuga, Tatarstan, 1,300 km from the border, a plant that reportedly builds Shahed-type drones.
Sources
- Guide To Ukraine’s Long Range Attack Drones | Covert Shores
- From Frontline to Urals: The Explosive Rise of Ukraine’s Long-Range Drone Arsenal | DEFENSEMAGAZINE.com – World of defense and security
