Russia’s drone-air-defense arms race now includes depleted uranium — Ukraine found it in Geran-2 warhead

Ukraine detected elevated radiation levels on debris from a modified Russian Geran-2 attack drone. The warhead of an R-60 air-to-air missile mounted on it contained depleted uranium, striking elements identified as Uranium-235 and Uranium-238, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) announced.

The SBU said gamma radiation of 12 microsieverts per hour was recorded at the wreckage near the village of Kamka. It secured the warhead with units of the State Emergency Service and the Armed Forces, moved it to a radioactive-waste storage facility, and opened a war-crimes investigation under Article 438 of Ukraine's Criminal Code.

Toxicity and radioactivity of depleted uranium

The fragments were recovered after a night attack on Chernihiv Oblast on 7 April 2026. Investigators identified parts of an R-60 short-range air-to-air missile mounted on a modified Geran-2 drone.

The 12 μSv/h gamma reading is significantly above the natural background, enough to flag the debris as hazardous to anyone in prolonged contact.

"Given the toxicity and radioactivity of depleted uranium, we urge citizens to be especially careful if they discover fragments of UAVs, missiles, or other munitions," said SBU.

Damaged or burned munitions pose the greatest danger, as they may release radioactive dust that is hazardous to people and the environment.

The 7 April incident is not the first sighting of this configuration. Ukraine's Defense Intelligence (HUR) published the structure and supply chain of Geran-2 drones equipped with R-60 missiles on 15 December 2025.

On 12 January 2026, it reported a Geran-2 modification carrying both a warhead and a Verba man-portable air-defense missile.

What is new is the forensic identification of depleted-uranium elements in the warhead and the formal criminal designation.

"This warhead emits radiation"

Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine's defense minister, told UNIAN that the R-60 is "a very old Soviet missile" whose warhead uses depleted-uranium rods as penetrating elements, chosen historically for their density and hardness against aircraft.

"This warhead emits radiation," he said, but he framed the hazard narrowly: "It could only be dangerous for specialists working with this debris."

He urged civilians not to approach wreckage and to call specialists, adding that ground and water are not contaminated by the rods as long as the warhead remains intact.

"It is whole, it does not break apart and does not scatter, as far as we have found," he added.