Russia built 10 new bases near its borders to launch jet-powered drones at Ukraine — The Telegraph

Russians have built around a dozen secret bases near their western borders to launch jet-powered drones at Ukrainian territory and potentially NATO countries. This is stated in an investigation by The Telegraph, Ukrinform reports.

Using leaked documents and satellite imagery, the British newspaper The Telegraph identified at least 59 new launch rails along russia’s border with Belarus and Ukraine.

Some drone launch sites were established at military bases and civilian airfields. Additional launch sites were built in rural areas of russia.

It is noted that moscow is rapidly upgrading the russian version of the Iranian Shahed-type kamikaze drone, deploying newer high-speed jet-powered variants capable of striking targets nearly 1,000 km away.

Satellite imagery analyzed by DroneSec showed that around 20 recently installed launch rails have an elongated design, which may indicate their ability to launch russia’s newest long-range attack drones.

Satellite images also showed a significant increase in the number of high-tech drones. One of the bases has enough space to store more than 1,000 drones simultaneously.

Additional launchers are being built at a number of key facilities, indicating moscow’s intention to increase the scale of drone deployment.

Open-source tracking data shows that seven of the ten facilities identified by The Telegraph were used during some recent russian attacks on Kyiv.

Analysts warn that russia’s newest jet-powered drones could also be used against European countries. The location of some of the bases allows russian drones to reach Warsaw.