With no immediate end in sight, the conflict's financial burden will weigh heavier on Moscow, which isn't receiving billions in weapons transfers from Western nations like Ukraine is. As the conflict essentially becomes one of attrition - who can withstand that human, material and financial burden the longest - finding cheaper but still potent weapons will be key.
"Shahed-136 is a cheap version of a cruise missile, which Russia can't produce fast," said Bielieskov.
Raising alarm bells
Taleblu said Russia will likely continue to boost its long-range strike capabilities with Iranian drones.
"This should raise alarm bells for Europe and the world," he said.
Russian officials haven't issued any data about the number of missiles fired during the conflict, but Ukraine's defense minister recently alleged that Russia has used most of its high-precision missile arsenal - from 1,844 on the eve of Russia's invasion to 609 by mid-October.
A war of nerves
The incessant buzzing of the propeller-driven Shahed drones - dubbed "mopeds" and "lawnmowers" by combatants - can induce terror for anyone under its flight path because no one on the ground knows exactly when or where the weapon will strike.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seized on the drones' terror element, posting on social media: "The whole night, and the whole morning, the enemy terrorizes the civilian population."
Bielieskov conceded that Shahed drone strikes stir up fears that Ukraine's air defenses are inadequate. But he said their use - even in large numbers - can't reverse Ukraine's battlefield gains.