Satellite images reveal new Russian drone-launch site near Millerovo

TLDR

• Satellite imagery shows Russia built a drone-launch site near Millerovo in under two months, says OSINT project Absolutely Reliable Source.¹²
• Analysts say sites built this way are hard to put out of action with small kamikaze drones.¹²
• Reuters independently reports completion is near, but its source says Geran-4 and Geran-5, against the OSINT group's Geran-5.³⁴

A new Russian drone-launch facility has risen from an empty field near Millerovo in the Rostov region in under two months, and satellite imagery reviewed by OSINT analysts suggests it is built for the latest jet-powered Geran-5 drones.

Why it matters: the facility's layout mirrors Tsymbulovo, a drone-launch site in Russia's Oryol region, and analysts say facilities built this way are hard to put out of action with the small kamikaze drones Ukraine typically uses against such targets.¹²

Driving the news:

• The OSINT project Absolutely Reliable Source analysed Planet Labs satellite imagery and found the Millerovo site was still an empty field as of 1 September.¹
• The first section now includes eight prepared launcher positions and 32 positions for preparing drones for launch.¹²
• A satellite image from 12 October shows drones already being unloaded in one section of the site.¹²
• Analysts say the construction pace was likely accelerated to increase the scale of Russian strikes on Ukraine following the September attacks on Kyiv.¹²
• The facility sits at coordinates 48.995968, 40.286255.¹

The big picture: researchers caution that their conclusions about the facility's purpose and the specific drone model it will host rest on satellite imagery and their own assessment, not direct confirmation, but they note the construction pattern closely matches Tsymbulovo, a jet-drone base in Russia's Oryol region, and say facilities built this way are difficult to strike effectively with conventional kamikaze drones, requiring longer-range weapons instead.¹²

Update, 16 October 2026: Reuters has published its own analysis of the site and reports that Russia has nearly finished building a major base for launching jet-powered drones in just six weeks, according to defence experts and commercial imagery from Planet Labs and Airbus.³ In Reuters' account the site was an empty field on 31 August and a complex the size of around 126 soccer pitches by Wednesday.³ Imagery from 31 August showed a few vehicles in a field with no sign of construction, and imagery the following morning showed work had begun.³ The site covers about 0.9 square kilometres and lies about 3.5 kilometres from Millerovo air base, home to the 31st Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.³ Of the eight launch platforms, a Reuters analysis showed two already had rails and rails were being built on two others.³ Mike Monnik, founder and CEO of DroneSec, told Reuters the site would be capable of launching the Geran-4 and Geran-5, said it looked very close to completion and would probably be fully operational in weeks, if not earlier, and said it may be able to fire 100 jet-powered drones or more in 24 hours, although Russia normally fires them in small numbers.³ He added that the new site likely sits within the air defence "bubble" of systems at the air base.³ Rob Jordan of the RUSI think-tank said the concrete pads and two possible takeoff rails looked consistent with launch tracks for Russian Geran drones.³ Reuters said Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.³ The Kyiv Independent recaps both Absolutely Reliable Source's 13 October report and the Reuters findings, and notes the OSINT group had the site as an empty field on 1 September, a day later than the Reuters date.⁴ The two accounts differ on the drone model: Reuters quotes DroneSec on Geran-4 and Geran-5, while Absolutely Reliable Source said the facility was intended for Geran-5.³⁴