Russia's heavy-lift UAV operators undergo training lasting up to two months

Screengrab from video shared by Russia's Ministry of Defence on 17 June 2024 purporting to show the heavy-lift Perun UAV (Russian Ministry of Defence )

Russia's operators of heavy-lift unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs) undergo training for up to two months before being deployed to Ukraine. This is according to Pavel Porokhonko, deputy commander of the unmanned systems regiment of the Moscow military district, cited by Russia's state news agency Tass on 8 April 2026.

“In the Moscow military district, we have five to seven training grounds for this type of drone [heavy lift UAV]. The training itself takes around two months,” Porokhonko said.

A number of units within the unmanned systems regiment were formed in late 2025 and early 2026. Now, those units are carrying out combat missions, according to Porokhonko. The heavy-lift UAVs that are being used by the Russian units have the capability to lay mines and drop lethal payloads, Porokhonko is quoted saying.

During the training, operators used the heavy-lift UAVs for the delivery of cargo as well as “covert movement, deployment, launches and mining”, according to the Tass report. In June 2024, Russia's Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on social media that its Dnepr forces developed a heavy-lift UAV called Perun capable of carrying up to 200 kg. At the time, the Russian MoD said it was used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions and logistical support.

In a 23 January Tass report, Porokhonko is quoted saying that training UAV operators within Russia's unmanned systems forces (Voyska Bespilotnykh Sistem: VBS) can last up to three months at a time. During the training reported in January, a number of UAVs were used including Boomerang and Molniya.