Direct proof of use
The Shahed-136 is directly documented in Russian use during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War. A United Kingdom submission to the United Nations Security Council reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine recovered Shahed-136 systems transferred from Iran to Russia, that the type was first seen being used by Russia in Ukraine in late 2022, and that Ukraine loaned the UK the remains of a Shahed-136 airframe shot down over Ukraine.
The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency separately published visual-comparison material identifying the Shahed-136 as the Geran-2 in Russian service, with examples spotted over Kyiv in October 2022 and wing stabilizers and engines recovered in Ukraine. The U.S. Treasury Department also stated that Shahed-series UAVs designed and produced by Shahed Aviation Industries were being used by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Sources: UK Letter to the UN on Iranian UAVs, Iranian UAVs in Ukraine: A Visual Comparison, Treasury Iranian UAV Transfer Sanctions
Timeline
The first public evidence appeared in September 2022, when Reuters distributed Ukrainian military handout imagery of a Shahed-136 shot down near Kupiansk. By October 2022, DIA's visual comparison placed Shahed-136/Geran-2 aircraft over Kyiv and documented recovered parts in Ukraine.
In November 2022, Treasury sanctioned Iranian and transfer-network actors tied to the production and movement of Shahed-series UAVs to Russia. In May 2023, the UK told the UN Security Council that Iran had transferred more than 400 attack UAVs to Russia and that the Shahed-136 had been used by Russia in Ukraine since late 2022. In July 2023, Conflict Armament Research physically documented Geran-2 remnants that Russian forces had deployed in Ukraine and assessed that Russia had started producing and fielding a domestic Shahed-136 variant.
By 2026, Russian use had expanded into very large mixed strike packages. The Institute for Science and International Security reported that May 2026 set a new peak, with Ukrainian Air Force reporting indicating 8,161 Shahed-type UAVs launched that month, including an estimated 5,181 Shahed/Geran strike UAVs.
Sources: Reuters Kupiansk Shahed-136 Image, Iranian UAVs in Ukraine: A Visual Comparison, Treasury Iranian UAV Transfer Sanctions, UK Letter to the UN on Iranian UAVs, CAR Domestic Russian Shahed Variant, Monthly Analysis of Russian Shahed 136 Deployment Against Ukraine
Narrative
Russia has used the Shahed-136 under the Geran-2 designation as a long-range one-way attack UAV. Public official and investigative sources describe a system used for pre-programmed strikes against fixed targets, with a nose-mounted warhead and GNSS/INS navigation. The conflict evidence therefore separates transfer and possession from use: Iranian transfer is documented by Treasury and the UK submission to the UN, while battlefield use is documented by Ukrainian recoveries, DIA visual comparison, CAR field investigation, and launch-volume analysis.
The target pattern spans military and civilian infrastructure contexts. Treasury described Shahed-series UAVs used by Russian forces in Ukraine in attacks against civilian infrastructure, while Reuters imagery from October 2022 documented Shahed-136 remnants after a Russian strike on fuel storage facilities in Kharkiv. Human Rights Watch, writing on Russia's October-November 2022 energy-grid attacks, described widespread disruption to electricity service; that source supports the infrastructure-strike context but does not identify every weapon in those attacks.
The evidence base also shows adaptation over time. CAR assessed in August 2023 that Russia had begun fielding a domestic Shahed-136 variant after documenting two Geran-2 UAVs deployed in Ukraine in July 2023. The Institute for Science and International Security later tracked Shahed/Geran launches and distinguished Alabuga-produced Shahed/Geran strike UAVs from other Shahed-type drones, decoys, and related systems in 2026 reporting.
Sources: UK Letter to the UN on Iranian UAVs, Treasury Iranian UAV Transfer Sanctions, Reuters Kharkiv Shahed-136 Image, Human Rights Watch Energy Grid Attacks, CAR Domestic Russian Shahed Variant, Monthly Analysis of Russian Shahed 136 Deployment Against Ukraine
