Ukraine's Security Service confirmed on Wednesday that Russia armed a modified Geran-2 strike drone with an R-60 air-to-air missile loaded with depleted uranium projectiles, the first confirmed use of radioactive material in a drone attack on Ukrainian soil. The warhead was recovered near the village of Kamka in Chernihiv Oblast, where Russia struck on April 7. The discovery is now the subject of a war crimes investigation.
What Ukraine's SBU Found
Investigators and radiation reconnaissance teams from the SBU examined debris from the downed Geran-2 after the April 7 attack near Kamka. Inside the wreckage was an unexploded R-60 air-to-air missile, a weapon originally designed to destroy aircraft. Russia had adapted the R-60 to ride on the Geran-2 as an anti-helicopter platform, aimed at disrupting Ukrainian air defense operations.
Analysis of the missile's striking elements identified Uranium-235 and Uranium-238 — isotopes of depleted uranium. Radiation reconnaissance equipment recorded a gamma radiation level of 12 microSieverts per hour immediately adjacent to the wreckage. Natural background radiation in the region runs below 0.3 microSieverts per hour. The debris was reading roughly 40 times above natural background.
"Elevated radiation levels detected on the wreckage of the enemy UAV with the missile... significantly exceeds the natural background radiation level and poses a threat to human health." — Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), May 20, 2026
The SBU secured the warhead and transported it to a designated radioactive waste storage facility. The warhead's location, the measurements taken, and the identification of the isotopes were all confirmed through on-site investigation before transport.
What Depleted Uranium Is and Why It Matters
Depleted uranium is a dense, chemically toxic byproduct of uranium enrichment. It is mildly radioactive and has been used in military applications for decades, primarily in armor-piercing ammunition, because it is harder than steel and burns through armor on impact. The United Kingdom supplied Ukraine with depleted uranium tank rounds in 2023, drawing protests from Moscow.
Russia's application here is different in character. Geran-2 drones are mass-produced, inexpensive, and launched in large swarms against Ukrainian territory on a near-nightly basis. When a depleted uranium payload detonates, it creates fine radioactive particles that can contaminate soil, water, and air at the impact site. Those particles can be inhaled or ingested by anyone in the surrounding area, and carry long-term risks including kidney damage and elevated cancer rates in exposed populations.
Deploying radioactive material in area-effect attacks against civilian infrastructure does not fit conventional military use of depleted uranium. The use in the Geran-2's warhead — a drone that regularly strikes apartment buildings, power stations, and civilian neighborhoods — is the detail the SBU is treating as central to its war crimes investigation.
The War Crimes Investigation
Ukraine's SBU opened a criminal investigation under Article 438 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, which covers violations of the laws and customs of war. Procedural supervision is being handled by the Chernihiv Regional Prosecutor's Office. The SBU stated this is the first confirmed instance of Russia deploying radioactive material inside a strike drone used in combat over Ukrainian territory.
The April 7 attack near Kamka was carried out during the same period Russia was conducting large-scale nightly drone campaigns across multiple Ukrainian oblasts. Whether additional Geran-2 drones were modified with the same payload, or whether this configuration has been used in subsequent attacks, remains under investigation.
Sources
- Russia arming missile warheads with depleted uranium, Ukraine's SBU says — Kyiv Independent
- Russia Just Used a Radioactive Drone in Ukraine for the First Time — United 24 Media
- SBU confirms depleted uranium in modified Russian attack drone — New Voice of Ukraine
- Russia installs missile with radioactive depleted uranium on Geranium-2 — Liga.net
- Ukraine Warns of Radioactive Dust After Russia 'Uses Uranium' in Drone Missiles — Kyiv Post
Independent. Unfiltered. Unbought.
This is independent, sourced accountability reporting by Impeach 47. No corporate owners, no paywall.
Get new posts delivered free by email: impeachh47.substack.com.
Follow on X: @Impeach_47.
Follow on Threads: @impeach.47.
Follow on Instagram: @impeach.47.
Subscribe on YouTube: @impeach_47.
If this reporting is useful, the way you support us is simple: wear the movement. Every hat, shirt, and sticker from impeach47.earth is a walking billboard and the thing that keeps this research fed.
