Ukraine may have to revisit its blackout measures if Russia begins mass-using the Susanin optical navigation module on Geran-5 drones and other drones and missiles at night, Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, a defense-technology adviser to Ukraine’s president, says. Road and highway lighting will be the first concern.
Russia keeps upgrading the weapons it sends against Ukrainian cities. It has already fitted its jet-powered Gerans with machine vision that lets them recognize and track targets on their own in the final seconds of flight, which Ukraine’s electronic warfare cannot easily defeat.
Flash says Ukraine would act deliberately this time
In 2022, Ukrainians switched off lights out of fear. Flash says that if optical navigation spreads, darkness may have to become a deliberate defense.
“If our enemy begins to use the Susanin optical navigation module en masse on the Geran-5 and other drones (missiles) at night, we may have to revisit the question of light masking,” Beskrestnov says.
This especially concerns the lighting of roads and stretches of highways, where cars are especially vulnerable to drone and missile attacks, with Ukrainian rescuers named being in a vehicle during a strike as one of the most dangerous places.
Meanwhile, Beskrestnov does not say how widely Russia already uses the module.
Russia’s air war grows faster and more frequent
Jet-powered Gerans already fly too fast for the mobile gun teams and light interceptors that stop slower drones, and Ukraine is still testing jet interceptors of its own.
“Credit to the Russians. They know how to scale,” Serhii Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, said in September.
By August, Russian forces were striking Kyiv almost twice a week on average, each attack costing the city about $12 million, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Ukraine’s Economy Ministry expects losses from Russian strikes to reach up to $10 billion this year.
Mechanics repair unmanned ground vehicles at the Lava Unmanned Systems Regiment workshop in the Kharkiv region.
Diego Fedele/Getty Images
A Ukrainian unit says its ground robot completed 93% of a 12-mile supply mission autonomously.
The robot used AI navigation, cameras, and 3D mapping to navigate the route.
The unit hopes to expand autonomous missions and reduce reliance on services like Starlink.
A Ukrainian military unit said on Wednesday that it successfully sent a ground robot on a 12-mile supply run, using AI to navigate for nearly the entirety of the mission.
The Lava Unmanned Systems Regiment of the 2nd Corps, or Khartiia Corps, of Ukraine's National Guard announced the completion of the autonomous logistics mission in a statement shared with Business Insider, calling it the "first of its kind under combat conditions."
The unit said that the robot completed 93% of its 20-kilometer trip on its own, delivering cargo and returning to its starting point autonomously, with an operator intervening for only 1.4 kilometers of the journey.
Before departure, a separate ground robot equipped with light detection and ranging technology, or LiDAR, mapped the route and terrain in 3D. Cameras on the supply bot detected obstacles while AI-powered navigation guided the robot.
"This mission has shown that autonomous ground systems are already capable of operating in real combat conditions," said Andrii Kopach, who serves as commander of the Lava Regiment's Unmanned Ground Systems Battalion.
"The biggest change is that the operator is no longer a driver but a dispatcher," he said. "Instead of controlling the vehicle every second, they monitor its movement and step in only when needed."
Kopach said that the unit's next ambitions are to enable a single operator to oversee multiple robots at once and expand autonomous missions to casualty evacuations. He added that more AI-powered ground robots would reduce dependence on "a constant control link," such as Starlink, a satellite internet service which recently saw major speed disruptions in Ukraine, negatively affecting front-line operations.
Ground robots have become an important tool for Ukraine, carrying out resupply, casualty evacuation, and assault missions. The Ukrainian military, and Western military leaders studying lessons from the war, hope that increased reliance on ground robots and aerial drones, as well as the increased integration of AI capabilities into these systems, can help reduce the risks to the troops who would otherwise perform those missions on increasingly dangerous battlefields.
Drones navais atingiram um navio cargueiro na costa búlgara do Mar Negro nesta quarta-feira (28), segundo o proprietário da embarcação e o governo do país. O ataque é o mais recente de uma série de incidentes que aumentaram a preocupação com a expansão do alcance da guerra da Rússia contra a Ucrânia.
Não está claro quem realizou o ataque ao navio grego, que navegava sob bandeira da Libéria na zona econômica exclusiva (ZEE) da Bulgária, nem qual era a carga transportada pelos 421 contêineres da embarcação.
“Um navio cargueiro foi atingido por três drones navais, a aproximadamente 21 milhas náuticas a sudeste de Shabla”, afirmou o ministro da Defesa, Dimitar Stoyanov, a jornalistas durante uma reunião regional de segurança.
O Ministério dos Transportes da Bulgária informou, em comunicado, que quatro embarcações da Marinha e da polícia foram enviadas para prestar assistência ao navio, que seguia do porto israelense de Haifa para Constanța, na Romênia. Os 18 tripulantes foram retirados da embarcação.
A proprietária do navio, a empresa Contships Management, confirmou o ataque. Um representante da companhia informou que todos os tripulantes estavam em segurança e em terra: 14 filipinos e quatro ucranianos.
Uma fonte de segurança marítima com conhecimento do caso afirmou que o navio sofreu danos graves e estava adernando.
Preocupação internacional
Ataques com drones contra navios mercantes na costa da Bulgária provavelmente causaram a morte de cerca de duas dezenas de tripulantes internacionais nas últimas semanas, segundo comunicados do governo sobre pessoas desaparecidas. Pelo menos seis embarcações comerciais foram atacadas.
Os ataques ocorreram na zona econômica exclusiva da Bulgária, área que se estende além das águas territoriais do país, mas na qual a Bulgária tem direitos exclusivos de exploração e gestão de recursos.
Os incidentes provocaram condenação internacional e preocupação com o alcance crescente da guerra na Ucrânia. Integrante da União Europeia e da Otan (Organização do Tratado do Atlântico Norte), a Bulgária tem buscado ajuda de aliados para reforçar a segurança marítima.
A Ucrânia atribuiu os ataques à Rússia, e o primeiro-ministro búlgaro, Rumen Radev, afirmou que os incidentes parecem beneficiar Moscou. O governo russo, porém, negou envolvimento.
Em um sinal da preocupação internacional, o ministro da Defesa da Turquia, Yaşar Güler, advertiu Rússia e Ucrânia nesta quarta-feira contra ataques a embarcações comerciais no Mar Negro. Ele afirmou que Ancara se reserva o direito de tomar medidas legais em resposta aos ataques.
China’s updated drone export rules will cover the engines in Russia’s Geran attack drones, Russia’s version of Iran’s Shahed, Ukraine’s sanctions commissioner Vladyslav Vlasiuk said on 27 October. He cited a clarification from China’s Commerce Ministry, Ukrainska Pravda’s defense desk Oboronka reported. The license requirement takes effect on 18 November.
Licensing itself isn’t new. China has required permits for some drone engines since September 2023. Even so, Chinese engines kept reaching Russian drone plants, some shipped as refrigeration units, Reuters reported. Russia’s jet-powered Gerans rely fully on Chinese turbojets, HUR deputy chief Vadym Skibitskyi has said. So the update’s value lies in enforcement, not in the list.
Three agencies, one list
Beijing issued the update in a joint announcement by the Commerce Ministry, the General Administration of Customs, and the Central Military Commission’s Equipment Development Department. Announcement No. 49 bars exports of listed drone items without a license, including specially designed autopilots and certain drone engines. China will approve applications that comply with the rules, a Commerce Ministry spokesperson added.
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Vlasiuk said the core of Russia’s long-range strike drones has formally come under control. He named engines for Gerans, turbojets for their jet versions, autopilots, and jam-resistant navigation. The announcement lists anti-jam navigation as a technology, not as hardware. He called the step an opening for Ukraine because Beijing now formally takes responsibility for these categories. Kyiv will press for the rules to be applied to known suppliers of Russia’s arms industry and, with partners, track licenses, transit routes, and re-exports, he said.
Permits, refusals, and FPV parts
Licensing does not mean a ban, Vlasiuk stressed. Exporters China deems reliable can get general permits for up to three years, while the rules leave broad grounds for refusal. The new thresholds do not cover motors and speed controllers for FPV drones, batteries, cameras, or optical fiber, he added.
The rules do cover brushless motors that meet all of these: at least 48 volts, at least 3 kW, a power density of at least 3 kW per kilogram, and no more than 3,000 rpm. Their speed controllers are covered too, Militarnyi reported. Russia could still obtain parts with Beijing’s approval, the outlet noted. Ukraine, without such close ties, could face delays, inspections, and higher costs.
A small Russian cruise missile of an unconfirmed type came down almost intact in Odesa Oblast, Militarnyi reported on 27 October. Its box-shaped airframe looks unlike the Geran-5 variant whose name a presidential adviser gave it.
Militarnyi describes Russia’s work on the Geran-5 line as iterative: features tested on one version reappear in the next. A variant reported in late September can correct its route by images of the ground instead of satellite signals, which Ukraine jams, according to the monitoring channel Polkovnyk GSh. Official Ukrainian sources have not confirmed that system. The airframe found in Odesa Oblast looks shaped for a different problem: radar. Russia now builds 4,000 jet-powered Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones a month, Militarnyi says, most of them Geran-4. It is also building new launch sites for the Geran-5.
What the wreck shows
Local Telegram channel Odesa Info Live posted photos of the missile lying in open ground with little visible damage. Militarnyi described a compact cruise missile with a box-shaped fuselage, rounded edges, and a swept wing. The flat-sided body is probably meant to simplify production, the outlet said, and it may also cut radar visibility. A small turbojet engine exhausts through a V-shaped tail and draws air through intakes on both sides. Militarnyi read the dark composite skin as another measure against radar.
Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, the president’s adviser on defense technology, published the first photos of the new missile on 22 October. He wrote that it navigates optically and has greater range, speed, and flight altitude, and he labeled it the Geran-5 K5-K. However, Militarnyi noted that it looks substantially different from the K5-K variant already known by that name. In its 23 October overview, the outlet said Russia had started using two new small cruise missiles, probably developments of the Geran-5.
How Russia got here
Russia first used the original Geran-5 against Ukraine in early January 2026, Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) said, describing it as a jet-powered strike drone. Militarnyi now classes the whole line as small cruise missiles.
Until specialists open the airframe, its navigation, range, and speed rest on Beskrestnov’s word. What they find inside will show how much of the design is aimed at Ukraine’s radar.
A Russian jet-powered drone set homes on fire in Kharkiv’s Osnovianskyi district during the night, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) reported. A small child was among the people hurt. Around 13:00 on 28 October, another Russian drone hit the same district, starting a fire, killing one person and injuring two, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
Of the 88 Shahed-type drones Russia launched from 18:00 on 27 October, 38 were jet-powered, the Air Force reported. By its preliminary count at 08:00, defenses had downed or jammed 31 of those 38. Several drones were still in the air. Russia also fired an Iskander-M or S-400 ballistic missile from Taganrog. Even so, Russian weapons hit eight locations, and debris fell on two more.
One strike, a casualty count that shifted
Kharkiv Oblast head Oleh Syniehubov reported a drone strike on the district at 22:42 on 27 October. At 23:12, he clarified that a child hurt in the strike had acute stress reaction. At 23:39, he listed four people hurt: women aged 32 and 65, a 56-year-old man, and a 4-year-old boy. Three went to hospital. Eight minutes later, he added that a 65-year-old woman had acute stress reaction. His morning summary of the day’s strikes lists two 65-year-old women in Kharkiv, one wounded and one with acute stress.
Aftermath of the strike on Kharkiv. Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kharkiv Oblast
The SES put the number of people hurt at five, including the child. Rescuers said a jet-powered drone struck the area, starting a 2,500 m² fire.
Kharkiv’s last two days
The Osnovianskyi fire was part of a run of Russian strikes on Kharkiv and the area around it. On the evening of 26 October, Russian multiple rocket launchers hit the city’s Novobavarskyi district, killing two people and hurting four. That night, jet drones struck three places in Kharkiv district, which surrounds the city. One hit, in the settlement of Vilshany, left people hurt. The SES counted three injured that night.
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During the day on 27 October, another Russian jet drone hit a warehouse in the city’s Slobidskyi district. Preliminary reports showed no casualties. Drones also hit the Shevchenkivskyi district that afternoon, wounding one person, Terekhov said. Another hit damaged an administrative building in the Kholodnohirskyi district, he added. Hours later came the strike on Osnovianskyi. Across Kharkiv Oblast, 14 people were hurt over the past day, including a child, Syniehubov’s morning summary shows. In Osnovianskyi, rescuers were again working under the threat of repeat strikes.
Drones com sensores estão sobrevoando São Paulo para ajudar a Enel à identificar pontos das redes de alta tensão que precisam de manutenção, além de identificar pontos que estão prejudicados e podem evoluir para falhas. Cerca de 759 voos de inspeção já foram realizados.
Segundo a Enel, a escolha de utilizar drones foi tomada pois eles ampliam a capacidade de inspeção nas áreas urbanas, regiões de vegetação densa, travessias, subestações e locais de difícil acesso.
A CNN Brasil teve acesso à informação em primeira mão.
Por ser um objeto que pode se aproximar dos equipamentos de eletricidade, o drone registra imagens de melhor qualidade, o que ajuda na identificação de problemas como aquecimento em conexões, trincas em isoladores, corrosão, perda de galvanização, parafusos frouxos, fios partidos, furtos de componentes e desgaste de acessórios.
Veja como é a visão do drone
A Enel também explica que a utilização dessa tecnologia diminuiu a necessidade de intervenções em campo, o que colabora para a segurança das equipes de manutenção, além de reduzir o tempo de mobilização para inspeções.
Em agosto deste ano, um dos planos de inspeção analisou cerca de 806 quilômetros de linhas e estruturas. Isso porque os drones possuem sensores LiDAR, que podem mapear vegetações e estruturas de rede com mais precisão, além de terem câmeras termográficas e RGB de alta resolução.
Helicópteros auxiliam as inspeções dos drones
Em casos de emergência, a Enel utiliza helicópteros durante essas inspeções, para ter uma visão mais ampla das linhas de transmissão e estruturas de rede. Segundo a companhia, os helicópteros atuam em casos de ocorrências ou eventos climáticos, para agilizar a avaliação e ter uma comunicação mais rápida com a equipe.
Veja como o helicóptero faz a inspeção com o drone:
Até o momento, os equipamentos conseguiram identificar 19 pontos de aquecimento, em cinco linhas de transmissão. Essas inspeções permitiram que equipes atuassem antes que a ocorrência ficasse grave.
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