Ukrainian OSINT channel: Russia turned a bare field into a Geran-5 launch site in a month—and drones are already arriving

Russia has nearly finished the first section of a new launch site for jet-powered Geran-5 attack drones near the town of Millerovo in Rostov Oblast, anonymous Ukrainian OSINT channel Absolutely Reliable Source reported on 13 October. The channel’s bio says it covers Ukraine’s deep strikes and that its author belongs to a larger, unnamed structure. It says Russia rushed the build to scale up attacks after its September strikes on Kyiv.

The site is meant for the kind of drone Ukraine stops far less often than the older Shaheds. Ukraine downs 55% of jet-powered Shaheds, the class that includes the Geran-5, and more than 90% of the older propeller-driven ones, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on 26 September. Russian industry makes about 3,000 Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones a month, Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) told Militarnyi in August. A new launch site is how Russia plans to fire more of them, the channel argues.

Built in weeks, by the channel’s count

The channel’s images from 1 September show no construction at the site. The latest ones show eight prepared positions for launchers and 32 places for preparing drones for launch, the channel wrote. Imagery from the day before its post shows drones being unloaded in one zone, it said.

The channel’s headline says the work took a month. Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi, comparing the channel’s own images from 1 September and 12 October, put it at about six weeks. Both readings rest on the same images, which have not been independently verified.

Built like Tsymbulova

The construction style is very similar to Tsymbulova, Russia’s jet-drone base in Oryol Oblast, the channel wrote. That base has separate positions for storing, preparing, and launching jet drones, Militarnyi said. By late May, less than a month into an expansion of Tsymbulova, Russia was already building 10 more launchers there.

Ukrainian drones have hit Tsymbulova repeatedly, though most of the damage imagery comes from Absolutely Reliable Source. Militarnyi reported strikes on the base’s bunkers and hangars in September. Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck it again overnight on 1 October, damaging two ground shelters and drone preparation areas, Absolutely Reliable Source said. On 10 October, OSINT channel Exilenova+ reported another drone strike there, saying several bunkers, one jet-drone launcher, and a drone storage area were hit.