Russia uses a jet drone with a cutting warhead against power pylons for the first time, Zelensky’s adviser says

Russia has used for the first time a jet drone with a special warhead developed to cut high-voltage pylons and the metal structures of bridges, Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on defence technologies, announced on 30 September.

Beskrestnov broke the news via Telegram, as The Kyiv Independent reports. The warhead consists of a main 40-kilogram charge and four additional shaped-charge destructive modules, designed specifically to cut the steel of electricity pylons and bridges.

According to Zelensky’s adviser, the development shows that the enemy is preparing to strike key electricity transmission lines — a target of strategic importance on the eve of winter.

The news comes as Moscow has resumed its broad campaign against Ukraine’s energy system. The combined attack on the night of 30 September was the heaviest in several months: according to the Ukrainian authorities, almost 190 attack drones and ballistic missiles were launched, including Zircon, Onyx and Iskander types, with energy infrastructure in Kyiv and the Kyiv region as the main target.

Emergency power cuts were imposed after the attacks in the capital and in the Chernihiv and Zhytomyr regions. Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said that “there is almost no day when the enemy does not attack energy infrastructure”, but stressed that an attack on this scale had not been seen since the end of the last heating season.