Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
Looking at the first four months of 2026, the Russian’s currently outpacing the number of drones launched in 2025.
During more than four years of war in Ukraine, Russia has launched thousands of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
A large portion of these has been the dreaded Geran-type drones, which are the Russian version of the more widely known Iranian-produced Shahed type.
Over the weekend, the BBC reported that a Russian drone and missile strike killed 10 people and injured at least 76. Of the 269 drones launched in this attack, 249 were shot down or jammed, according to Ukrainian authorities.
On April 1, a Russian swarm of 700 drones targeted Ukraine, with 450 of them being Shahed/Geran UAVs.
But with a single attack including that many drones, it’s clear that Russia has launched thousands of drones during the war — so how many have they actually launched?
Staggering numbers
In an analysis of Russia’s use of UAVs, the Institute for Science and International Security notes that in April alone, Russia launched nearly 6,600 UAVs.
On May 1 The Moscow Times cited an AFP-analysis of data published by the Ukrainian Air Force, concluding that this is the largest number of long-range attack drones launched by Russia during the war.
More than 4,300 of these were Shahed/Geran strike drones, and according to the report, 145 Shahed/Geran drones were launched daily on average.
The analysis is consistent with what the data shows, as the Russian use of the deadly drones is increasing.
Outpacing 2025
According to the data from the Institute for Science and International Security, Russian forces launched a total of 54,538 unmanned aerial vehicles against Ukrainian targets in 2025 alone.
So far in 2026, the barrage has continued, with 22,546 drones fired across the border to strike cities and military installations.
If Russian forces keep that launch pace, more than 67,000 Shahed/Geran-2 drones will have been launched by the end of the year.
The report from the Institute for Science and International Security does not provide data for 2022, 2023 and 2024-
Ukrainian defences getting better
The good news is that Ukrainian air defense is getting better at countering the swarms of Russian drones.
According to the report from the Institute for Science and International Security, Ukrainian defenses manage to keep the effectiveness of Russian strike drones far below 50%.
In fact, the highest effectiveness recorded in April was on April 7, when 28% of a total of 110 drones reached their target.
On April 16, just 3% of the 659 UAVs launched managed to breach the defenses.
Sources: The BBC, the Institute for Science and International Security
