of a Shahed 136/Geran-2
Yemeni Civil War There were some reports of its use in the
2019 attack of Saudi oil plants at Abqaiq and Khurais, however
The Washington Post reported that other types of drone were used in that attack. A British report to the
United Nations Security Council states that a
Shahed 131 was used, not a 136. In the months prior to the confirmation of their use, US intelligence sources and Ukrainian officials have claimed that Iran had supplied Russia with several hundred drones including Shahed-136s, although Iran has repeatedly rejected the claims that it had sent drones for use in Ukraine, saying it is
neutral in the war. However, on 2 September 2022 the Commander of the
IRGC General
Hossein Salami said at a Tehran arms show that "some major world powers" had purchased Iranian military equipment and his men were "training them to employ the gear". Russia stated it uses unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of domestic manufacture. This may reflect domestic production of these drones within Russia. On 21 November 2022, British government minister
James Heappey stated that the number of Shahed-136 loitering munitions used in Ukraine was estimated to be in the low hundreds. In May 2023, the
White House National Security Council spokesman suggested roughly 400 had been used so far, saying "Iran has provided Russia with more than 400 UAVs primarily of the Shahed variety".
First appearances On 13 September 2022, initial use of the Shahed 136 was indicated by photos of the remains of a drone inscribed with -2, operated by Russian forces. According to Rodion Kulahin, the Ukrainian artillery commander of the
92nd Brigade, Shahed 136 drones destroyed four
howitzers and two
BTRs during the
Kharkiv counter-offensive. On 23 September, further use of the drones was recorded in
Odesa, where videos of their flyover and impact were uploaded on
Telegram channels. Notably, the drones were audibly engaged with small arms fire, which did not seem to have shot down any of the aircraft. On 25 September, videos posted on social media shows intensified use of the drone by the Russian forces around Odesa and
Dnipro cities. This time, along with small arms, some form of
anti-aircraft rotary cannon was employed, along with
surface-to-air missiles, downing at least one Geran-2. A number of the drones were able to hit unknown targets, although there are claims the Ukrainian Navy Headquarters in Odesa was hit. On 5 October 2022, a Geran-2 struck barracks hosting soldiers from the
72nd Mechanized Brigade in
Bila Tserkva. Ukrainian soldiers said they can be heard from several kilometers away and are vulnerable to small arms fire. Ukrainian sources stated they deployed
MiG-29 fighter aircraft to shoot down these drones with success, and that they used a similar strategy to shoot down cruise missiles such as the
Kalibr. On 13 October 2022, a Ukrainian MiG-29 crashed in
Vinnytsia while attempting to shoot down a Geran-2. According to Ukrainian sources, the drone detonated near the jet and shrapnel struck the cockpit which forced the pilot to eject.
October waves Geran-2 drones participated in the
October 2022 missile strikes that disabled large sections of the
Ukrainian power grid. Ukraine's military said it shot down the first Shahed 136 on September 13, and that 46 of the drones were launched on 6 on 6 October, 24 on 10 October, and 47 on 17 October 2022. In the morning of 17 October, Kyiv was attacked again. At least 8 people were killed during the day's attack. Significant upgrades and hardening of the drones increased the unit production cost to around $80,000 by April 2024. In October 2022, the
US Department of Defense stated that a number of Iranian experts were deployed to Crimea to provide technical support for the drones used in the attacks. Ukrainian sources said that more than 220 of these drones were shot down between mid-September and mid-October 2022. In December, use of the munitions resumed after a three-week pause. Ukraine suggested the suspension was to modify them for cold weather, but the
British Ministry of Defence said it was probably due to the exhaustion of previous stock followed by a resupply. On 14 December, a Shahed-136 drone that exploded in Kyiv was marked "For Ryazan" in Russian, a reference to attacks on the
Dyagilevo air base in Ryazan.
Ukrainian defense While Ukraine's ground-based air defence covers the whole country at low to high altitude, the 'extra-low' altitude flight of the drones means that Ukraine's conventional ground-based air defences are at a disadvantage. Ukraine has implemented virtual observation posts, an alert app which allows civilians to submit drone sightings, and mobile fire groups that specialise in defending against drone attacks using
missiles and various guns. One pilot describes the combination as 'pretty effective'. Because the drones are small, slow, and fly at low altitude, they are hard to spot on MiG-29 radar. One Ukrainian MiG-29 pilot described the drone's appearance on radar as similar to a flock of birds. Ukraine's Soviet-era
R-73 heat seeking missiles cannot lock on to targets inside clouds, while its
R-27R semi-active radar homing missiles of similar age require a dangerously close approach when attacking drones. Ukrainian aircraft can intercept these drones using their 30mm cannon, but only in daylight and clear weather. With either guns or missiles, there are risks of severe damage to defending aircraft. Ukrainian forces introduced a system of networked microphones to track the acoustic signature of incoming drones. Some 10,000 microphones are believed to be a part of the wireless network. The system is networked through a computer that turns the data into flight paths for Shahed drones. The microphone system was originally developed by two engineers in their garage. The microphones cost $4-500 per unit according to U.S. Air Force General
James Hecker. The United States and Romanian militaries have shown interest in the system. Called "Sky Fortress" the estimated total value of the system is cheaper than "a pair of Patriot air-defense missiles". Another is the NiDAR made by MARSS, which has a similar networked sensor package and uses
ducted fan quadcopter interceptors that have a top speed of more than . There are also domestic Ukraine options such as the Fowler. All systems are similar in that they use a large number of small interceptors to be able to counter drones launched en-masse simultaneously approaching from different directions.
DShK machine guns fitted with thermal imaging or cameras are among the most cost effective weapons for shooting down these drones. Some are working with searchlights like during
World War 2. In a May 2024
Wall Street Journal analysis of data from the
Ukrainian Air Force Command, Russia had launched 2,628 Shahed drones in the previous six months, some to test Ukrainian air defenses before other missiles were launched, of which Ukraine had intercepted over 80%. The
Wall Street Journal also noted "Ukraine uses such statistics for propaganda purposes". In August 2024, a Ukrainian Mi-8 used a machine gun to shoot down a Shahed drone. Earlier a Mi-24P used its twin
GSh-30K 30mm cannons to shoot down a drone. Such weapons are considered more cost effective compared using air defence missiles. On 8 September 2024, Russian drones entered both Romanian and Latvian airspace. Romanian scrambled two F-16s to monitor the drone's progress. It landed "in an uninhabited area" near
Periprava, according to the Romanian Ministry of Defence. The drone that entered Latvian airspace from Belarus crashed near
Rezekne. This comes as the
ISW noted increased success in Ukrainian
electronic warfare against Russian drones that resulted in "several Russian Shahed drones (that) recently failed to reach their intended targets for unknown reasons." Two
Kh-58s failed to reach their targets. The ISW claimed that use of electronic warfare saved air defence resources. On 10 October 2024, a
Neptune missile struck an ammunition depot in Oktyabrsky, Krasnodar. Ukrainian intelligence claimed to have destroyed over 400 Shahed UAVs. On 23 July 2025,
Ekonomichna Pravda claimed 9 out of 10 Shahed drones shot down were due to interceptor drones.
Reactions In response to the initial attacks, Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has denounced it as "a collaboration with evil". Diplomatic ties
between Iran and Ukraine were subsequently reduced as a consequence of the attacks. On 18 October 2022 the U.S. State Department accused Iran of violating
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 by selling drones to Russia, agreeing with similar assessments by France and the United Kingdom. On 22 October France, Britain and Germany formally called for an investigation by the UN team responsible for UNSCR 2231. Iran's ambassador to the UN responded that these accusations were an erroneous interpretation of paragraph 4 of annex B of the resolution, which clearly states it applies to items that "could contribute to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems", which these drones could not. Resolution 2231 was adopted after the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed.
The U.S. withdrew from the agreement under the
Donald Trump administration in 2018. An Iranian Major-General said 22 countries requested to purchase Iranian drones. Multiple critics including a senior researcher of the
Center for Security Studies called the weapon tactically useless, and said that its role is as a
weapon of terror against civilians. Others said it can be used to carried out devastating strikes to Ukrainian forces but are unlikely to be a game-changer for the war. Iran denied sending arms for use in the Ukraine war and Iranian foreign minister
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Iran will not remain indifferent if it is proven that Russia used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine. On 5 November 2022, Abdollahian said Iran shipped "a small number" of drones to Russia before the war. He repeated Iran will not remain indifferent if proven Russia used Iranian drones against Ukraine. He denounced Ukraine for not showing up at talks to discuss evidence of Russian use of Iranian drones. Iran foreign ministry continued to deny sending weapons for use in the war.
2022 Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan The U.S. military believes groups allied to Iran used the Shahed 136 in August 2022 against a U.S.-run military base at
Al-Tanf in
Syrian opposition controlled territory in the
Syrian Desert.
2023 Indian Ocean On 24 November, it was suspected that an Iranian Shahed 136 had been used to attack the
CMA CGM bulk carrier Symi in the Indian Ocean according to a US defense official. The attack caused damage to the ship but did not injure any of the crew.
2024 Iranian strikes on Israel On 13 April 2024,
Iran carried out a missile and drone attack against Israel, which used the Shahed 136 among other long range weapons. The attack was largely intercepted and thwarted by missile interception systems of Israel, the
United States,
Jordan, the
United Kingdom and
France on 14 April. The direct line distance from the Iranian border to one of the targets,
Nevatim Airbase, is about . On 18 April, the United States imposed new sanctions on sixteen Iranian individuals as well as two companies associated with Iran's drone program.
2026 Iran war Iran launched its Shahed 136 drones towards US allies in West Asia and towards US military bases in the Middle East. == Classification controversy ==