Russia is expanding its drone launch sites for long-range strikes along the border with Ukraine and Belarus, likely to step up its strikes against Kiev and possibly NATO, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has warned.
V. "Telegraph" reported on August 16 that Moscow had built 59 new drone launch tracks at 10 different sites along its border with Ukraine and Belarus, and that each base could accommodate over 1,000 drones.
"Telegraph" cites an intelligence company analysis that says about 20 of the new launch rails are extremely long, suggesting that Russian forces could use them to launch Geran-4 and Geran-5 jet-powered attack drones, which can fly 450 to 850 kilometers and 950 to 1,000 kilometers, respectively.
Russia is likely building these additional launch pads in the west of the country to increase its capacity to launch larger volleys of long-range drones as part of its regular strikes across Ukraine.
Moscow is also likely specifically seeking to use Geran-4 jet-powered attack drones and "Geran-5" to strike deeper into western Ukraine, taking advantage of the drones' greater speed and endurance to penetrate Ukrainian air defenses.
It is also likely that the Kremlin will move its drone launch sites to the west of the country in an attempt to protect Russian drone infrastructure from Ukrainian drones.
Ukrainian forces have successfully struck Russian launch sites near the occupied city of Donetsk.
Russia may also be preparing to use its "Rassvet" satellite group (the Russian version of "Starlink"), taking advantage of new launch sites, which would allow Russian forces to strike with greater precision against Ukraine's rear areas and air defense systems from various directions.
The new Russian drone launch bases could also support future Russian strikes against NATO, should the Kremlin decide to take such action, as the bases would allow for a higher volume of salvos, and the launch stations would provide the drones with a range to NATO territory.
Probable Russian strike weapon — reportedly Russian "Banderol" cruise missile / long-duration unmanned weapon — crashed in a cornfield in Moldova on August 17.
The incident once again shows that the Kremlin has accepted the risk of Russian strike weapons hitting countries bordering Ukraine, as happened in recent strikes against western Ukraine.
Moscow's intensified missile campaign against Ukraine is to blame for a record high number of civilian casualties in July 2026.
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (UN HRMMU) reported on August 12 that conflict-related violence in Ukraine killed at least 437 civilians, including 17 children, and injured at least 2,610 people, including 166 children, in July 2026.
This is the highest number of civilian casualties in Ukraine since May 2022 and the highest number of casualties among children since April 2022.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine noted that the number of civilian casualties in July 2026 was about 30 percent higher than the previous record of at least 293 killed and 1,990 injured in June 2026, and that the majority of civilian casualties were in areas controlled by Ukraine.
On August 17, neither Kiev nor the Kremlin reported significant breakthroughs on the battlefield.