Over the past several days, all jet-powered kamikaze drones of the Shahed type attacking Kyiv have been following a nearly identical trajectory — along the Belarusian border rather than the shortest path to the capital. This pattern was noted on 30 August by Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, a freelance adviser to the President of Ukraine on the development of technological defense directions.
The expert drew attention to the fact that the drones stay close to the Belarusian border throughout their entire flight path and suggested that the reason lies in the Shaheds’ LTE modems connecting to base stations of Belarusian mobile operators.
According to ZN.UA, by connecting to Belarusian towers the drones can receive precise coordinates and maintain telemetry with the operator until the moment they turn toward Kyiv, while a standard 4G/LTE tower is capable of pushing a signal 15–25 km deep into neighboring territory — sufficient to cover the border segment of the route.
Mobile communication towers on Belarusian territory along the border with Ukraine were upgraded to provide connectivity for the Shaheds. Reserve Air Force officer Anatoliy Khrapchynskyi previously noted that the drones effectively form a “web”-type communications network, the launch of which requires ground stations — and it is precisely the Belarusian towers that serve as the first link in this system. According to him, taking the relay network out of action could bring down the entire drone control system and turn the drones into effectively unguided strike munitions; however, this requires a full-scale electronic warfare field rather than simple jamming.
According to Flash, modern Shaheds are already equipped with cameras: an operator can manually “lock on” to a target from a distance of several kilometers, after which the drone automatically controls its flight and carries out the attack. At the same time, the Belarusian relay stations are not yet fully activated, which limits the range of guided attacks. If they are switched on, guided drones employing the new tactics will be able to strike Lviv Oblast, Volyn, and other western regions.
