Russia is enlarging launch pads at the occupied Donetsk International Airport for its jet-powered Geran-3 drones. Satellite imagery analyzed by the Telegram channel "Strategic Aviation" shows that the size of standard launch pads has increased to accommodate Geran-3 launches, and new access roads were added to the Geran/Gerbera drone warehouse in June.

The construction extends Russia's ongoing conversion of the occupied airport into a full drone launch and storage complex, following the satellite-confirmed initial conversion that began in mid-2025.

Donetsk Airport and Russia's Tsymbulova training ground in Oryol Oblast are the only two known launch sites for Russia's jet-powered Geran-3 and Geran-4 drones.

Ukraine's 1st Separate Unmanned Systems Center claimed in June 2026 that sustained drone strikes had brought the airport under "fire control" and rendered it unusable for Russian operations. The new satellite analysis indicates that Russia continues to make industrial-scale investments there regardless of the operation.

New Geran-3 launch pads, warehouse access roads, second storage building

The Strategic Aviation analysis flagged three specific developments visible in satellite imagery as of 29 June 2026:

1. The enlargement of standard launch pads to accommodate the larger Geran-3 airframe,
2. The completion in June of several access roads leading to the Geran/Gerbera drone warehouse,
3. The likely start of construction on a second warehouse in the central airport section, per the channel.

The Geran-3 uses a turbojet engine and cruises at 300-370 km/h with a range of up to 1,000 km. Its increased size requires launch installations larger than those used for the original gasoline-powered Geran-2.

Russia completed preparations for mass production of the Geran-4 by January 2026, with test launches from the Primorsk drone airport in Oryol Oblast and from Donetsk Airport. 

From the "Cyborg" stand to a Russian drone base

Donetsk Airport was the site of one of the most iconic Ukrainian defensive stands of the war — the 242-day "Cyborg" defense of 2014-2015, when Ukrainian forces held the airport's terminal buildings against Russian-led forces. Russia captured the site in early 2015 and has held it since.

Until 2024, the airport lay effectively at the line of contact, preventing large-scale Russian construction. As the front moved westward in 2024, Russia gained enough rear-area depth to begin converting the site into a drone launch base.

Ukraine has unveiled a $2,000 interceptor drone capable of hunting Russian unmanned aerial vehicles on its own. The ZIRKA drone integrates automatic target detection, tracking, and terminal guidance, defense outlet Militarnyi reports.

The claim of a $2,000 fully-automated interceptor places ZIRKA at the price floor of the current Ukrainian interceptor market.

Auto-detection, tracking, terminal guidance at 340 km/h

ZIRKA integrates three automation layers: automatic target detection, tracking, and terminal guidance onto the target. That combination — detection through terminal-phase homing at the claimed price — is what NOCTIS and Vyriy Industries cite as the basis for the "lowest cost in class" claim among similar systems with equivalent automation.

The drone's 340 km/h speed places it in the same performance class as Germany-funded STRILA (355 km/h.

That speed is sufficient against standard Iranian-designed Shahed-136 attack drones. But it is below the burst speed of Russia's newer jet-propelled Shahed variants, which cruise at 300–350 km/h and can burst to 500–600 km/h.

NOCTIS as developer, Vyriy Industries as scaling partner

NOCTIS handles ZIRKA's interception technology, software, and automation. At the same time, Vyriy Industries provides investment support and a manufacturing partnership to scale.

The engineering team drew on combat experience from the Darknode anti-Shahed battalion, a sub-unit of the 412th Nemesis Unmanned Systems Brigade.

Ukraine's interceptor market: 40,000 delivered in January alone

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense took delivery of approximately 40,000 interceptor drones in January 2026 alone, and Zelenskyy has said Ukraine could scale to 2,000 per day with sufficient funding. 

Ukrainian interceptor prices have been dropping across the market as production has scaled. Skyfall's P1-Sun destroyed more than 3,000 Shaheds at roughly $3,000 per unit in the first half of 2026. Wild Hornets' Sting interceptor became the first drone control system approved to NATO standards in Ukraine in June 2026, with the platform having destroyed more than 600 aerial targets. 

Japan is stepping up drone cooperation with Ukraine to develop its own unmanned forces from Kyiv's wartime experience, and the two are building a joint drone cluster, the South China Morning Post reported. The centerpiece is a planned Japan-Ukraine Drone Cluster linking the two countries' industries. The drones are meant for Japan's defense against Russia and China, not for Ukraine.

Inside the cluster

The proposed cluster would unite Japanese manufacturers with Ukrainian defense firms, research centers, universities, and technology companies, the South China Morning Post says. Japanese companies are also working with European partners on anti-submarine drones.

Masayuki Masuda, who heads Chinese studies at Japan's National Institute for Defense Studies, the Defense Ministry's think tank, said the world has watched warfare change since Russia's invasion, and that drones will carry "much of the fighting on the future battlefield." He credited Ukraine's strong performance largely to drones.

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Masuda argued that quantity now matters as much as quality. Japan's many small firms, he said, could quickly turn out cheap drones in the numbers a war might demand.

A defense turn

The cooperation is part of a wider overhaul of Japan's defense policy. In May, Tokyo sent Self-Defense Force officers to NATO's mission headquarters in Germany for the first time—to a facility that coordinates weapons deliveries and training for Ukraine. Japan also joined the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), the program through which allies fund US weapons for Ukraine, including Patriots. Japan, however, pledged funds only for buying non-lethal equipment from the US.

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The drive is not only about Russia's war. It is also a response to China's growing military activity, with Tokyo tracking Chinese drones near the disputed Senkaku Islands, close to Taiwan, and across the South China Sea.