Russia has built new drone launch pads near Ukraine, Belarus, putting NATO countries within range, The Telegraph reports

Russia has constructed 10 new bases with launch pads for jet-powered drones near Ukraine and Belarus, according to a recent investigation by The Telegraph. The revelation comes as Russia intensifies its use of such weapons against Ukraine, which are more challenging to intercept than traditional UAVs. Ukraine's Air Force stated that the use of these drones increased fivefold in July compared to June, with some of the launch pads potentially able to reach NATO countries like Poland, Turkey, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Romania.

One base has the capacity to store over 1,000 long-range drones simultaneously, while construction of additional launch rails is ongoing at several key sites. These bases are reportedly being built to launch Russia's next-generation long-range strike drones, Geran-4 and Geran-5, which can fly almost 1,000 kilometers and carry a 90-kilogram payload.

Open-source tracking data indicates that seven of the 10 identified bases were used in Russia's recent attacks on Kyiv, which have further strained Ukraine's air defenses due to a shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles. In July, Russia launched a series of ballistic and hypersonic missiles at Kyiv, resulting in at least 31 deaths and over 100 injuries.

Additionally, Russia has previously targeted Romania and Moldova with drone strikes, and NATO officials have expressed concerns about the possibility of a Russian invasion of a member state in the future.