Russian warblogger Andrey Medvedev warns that strikes on Ukraine's infrastructure can create a false sense of safety in Russia. He says Ukrainian forces are increasingly using balloons to carry drones and extend communications links, turning an old, slow-moving aircraft into a platform for a very modern drone war.
Where He Says They Are Flying
Medvedev says Russian forces regularly shoot down balloons along the highway Russia calls "Novorossiya," and that balloons are being used in attacks on occupied Crimea. He also reports sightings deeper inside Russia. His complaint is simple: people responsible for protecting Russian infrastructure cannot assume distance makes it safe.
This revealing admission comes from a Russian commentator. Moscow keeps striking Ukrainian infrastructure while Ukraine looks for ways around how far its own attacks can reach and how well they stay in contact. Medvedev's warning is that a relatively simple platform may help Ukrainian drones reach places Russian defenders thought were beyond their practical range.
How the Flight Works
According to Medvedev, Ukrainian operators study weather applications and air currents before launching the balloons. Rather than steering them like aircraft, they use the wind and adjust altitude with ballast. He describes a system with two 2.5-litre containers of alcohol and an electric pump that releases the liquid to change the balloon's weight.
This unusually specific detail explains the broader idea. Altitude control lets a balloon seek different air currents during a long flight. The approach trades speed and precise steering for time in the air and the ability to carry equipment across a considerable distance. Medvedev says the balloons can climb as high as 8,000 metres and are difficult for radar to detect well.
They remain accountable. He says Russian forces have shot them down, including with FPV air-defence drones, along the "Novorossiya" route. His argument is that interception is possible only if defenders recognise the threat and look for it.
The Communications Problem
Medvedev is particularly concerned about balloons acting as repeaters. A drone sent deep into Russian-held territory still needs a way to receive commands and send information back. Raising a relay into the sky could extend a link beyond what ground-based equipment can manage. The balloon's value would then be in the network it supports, not merely in what hangs beneath it.
He also raises the possibility that balloons flying deeper into Russia are being used to test which networks a repeater can reach. In his account, that includes testing how Starlink-related equipment behaves inside Russia, where he says Starlink supposedly does not operate. He sketches a possible chain of repeater, drones and an operator in Kharkiv. Those are Medvedev's proposed explanations for the flights, not details established by the sighting of any single balloon.
A defender has to contend with the balloon overhead, any drone it carries and the communications path it may provide to other drones.
His anxiety makes sense given the context. Shooting down one platform does not erase the reason Ukrainian forces would keep experimenting with the method.
Medvedev ends by urging Russia to destroy Ukraine's infrastructure so it cannot manufacture weapons. Moscow gives the same brutal answer whenever Ukraine adapts: hit more of the country it invaded. Yet his own account describes Ukrainian teams working with winds, altitude, small payloads and communications links to keep expanding their options despite those attacks.