UKRAINE, Jun 23 — Russian forces work to extend the area of attack for their FPV drones for 30-50 kilometers (18-30 miles) to hit all settlements of Donetsk region, Kharkiv, Izium, Kherson, and even the outskirts of Kyiv, said Yehor Firsov, the commander of attack drone unit of 109th Territorial Defense Brigade to Ukrainian media Ukrainska Pravda.

Ukrainian forces, like Russia, are constantly working to develop the capabilities of attack and intelligence drones. 

“Russians expanded the grey zone not only because of fiber-optic — they did professional work to learn the approach for drone flight and the weather conditions, including the wind. And this is how they have this result now,” said Firsov.

In 2025, fiber optic drones filled the battlefield from the Russian side, posing challenges for Ukraine on how to counter them — traditional electronic warfare (EW) methods do not work on them.

Firsov urged Ukraine to think on how to protect against such a threat now. He said that the usual anti-aircraft warfare either won’t be able to detect such an FPV, or won’t shoot it down. 

“To shoot down one drone costs $1,500, Firsov said, “what if there are 500 of these drones?” 

“I think we need to be one step ahead, to figure out how to defend our cities (from drones like these), and how to down them,” said Firsov.

For the last week, Russian forces launched 17 FPV drones on settlements in Kharkiv Oblast, said Oleh Syniehubov, governor of the region.

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