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Attack drones (Shaheds)

Shahed / Geran kamikaze attack drones: what they are, what volunteer spotters call them and how they are shown on the UA Live Radar map.

What it is

A single-use drone: it flies to a preset point and explodes together with its warhead. The most common is the Iranian Shahed-136, which Russia produces under the name Geran-2. In a dismantled example HUR found an Iranian MD550 piston engine made by MADO, and among the 75 documented components, American and Taiwanese microchips.

Its engine sounds like a moped, so in spotter feeds it is often simply called “the moped”.

How the variants differ

  • Standard (piston-engined): the Shahed-136 and related models. They fly relatively slowly, so spotters have time to report the heading from district to district.
  • Jet-powered: the Geran-3 and newer models; HUR found a turbojet engine in the Geran-3. They are faster, so the marker on the map updates less often than the target moves.
  • Decoys such as the Gerbera look similar in silhouette but often carry no warhead: they are launched to overload air defence. From the ground you cannot tell them apart, so react the same way.

What to do

  1. 1When you hear the “Air raid alert!” signal, go to the nearest shelter at once. Find out in advance where it is near your home and work.
  2. 2If you cannot reach a shelter, move to a room without windows and follow the “two walls” rule.
  3. 3Agree with your family on what to do and where to meet if the phone network or the power goes down.

A marker on our map may appear late or not at all. Go by the siren, not by the map.

State Emergency Service of Ukraine. What to do when the “Air raid alert!” signal sounds (in Ukrainian)checked 2 Oct 2026

How it looks on our map

Movement

Nose along the course

Marker lives

7–15 min

  • The marker turns nose-first along the course as soon as spotters report the direction of travel.
  • If there are no new reports about the target, the marker closes after 7–15 min.

Variants

Sources

  1. 1

    HUR (Defence Intelligence of Ukraine), War&Sanctions

    Shahed-136 (GERAN-2) MS001 UAVchecked 2 Oct 2026
  2. 2

    HUR (Defence Intelligence of Ukraine), War&Sanctions

    Geran-3 UAVchecked 2 Oct 2026
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