Russian defense channel Zvezda released a video on 28/4 showing a Geran suicide drone approaching a target in Dneprodzerzhinsk city, Dnipropetrovsk province, at night. The footage was extracted from the aircraft's thermal imager and wide-angle optical camera.
As the drone approached its target, the optical camera showed multiple tracer rounds targeting the Geran. The automatic target lock frame on the thermal imager shifted position two times, and the aircraft changed its flight path before striking the firing Ukrainian air defense unit. Reconnaissance drone footage later revealed a fire and debris at the scene.
A Geran drone attacks a Ukrainian air defense unit in Dnipropetrovsk province in a video released on 28/4. Video: Zvezda
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated it destroyed the Ukrainian air defense unit at this location, but did not specify enemy casualties.
The Ukrainian military has not commented on the information. In its bulletin on 28/4, the Ukrainian Air Force Command reported that its air defense units shot down 95 Russian drones, while 9 aircraft struck 16 locations, with debris falling in 4 areas.
Lost Armour, a Russia-based open-source intelligence analysis website, indicated that the Geran drone's initial target in the video was the 330 kV DDZ-330 substation in Dneprodzerzhinsk city.
The strike occurred as Moscow intensified its targeting of Kyiv's critical infrastructure, citing these actions as retaliation for enemy attacks on civilian targets within Russian territory.
Russia has recently significantly increased production and continuously improved its long-range suicide drone models, including the Geran series. It also frequently uses decoy aircraft, such as the Gerbera, to deceive Ukrainian air defenses. Russian forces sometimes equip decoy drones with warheads to attack secondary targets during strikes.
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Location of Dneprodzerzhinsk city. Graphic: RYV
To counter Russian drones, Ukraine has deployed mobile air defense units mounted on pickup trucks equipped with 12,7 mm caliber machine guns. Russia subsequently deployed drones fitted with optoelectronic sensors to hunt these Ukrainian air defense units, and also introduced Geran-3 aircraft, which use jet engines capable of flying beyond machine gun range.
During a strike in early December 2025, a Russian drone reportedly changed its flight path in real-time and crashed into a Ukrainian air defense vehicle. This unit was deployed on a road near Khmelnytsia village in Chernihiv province, not far from a 330 kV substation, which appeared to be the drone's initial target.
Nguyen Tien (According to AFP, AP, Zvezda)
