diff --git a/.drone.yml b/.drone.yml
index c8ead17..910162c 100644
--- a/.drone.yml
+++ b/.drone.yml
@@ -293,16 +293,20 @@ steps:
         API="https://kubernetes:6443/apis/apps/v1/namespaces/realestate-crawler/deployments"
 
         for DEPLOY in realestate-crawler-api realestate-crawler-celery realestate-crawler-celery-beat; do
-          CONTAINER=$(curl -sfk "$API/$DEPLOY" \
+          # Check if deployment is paused and get container name
+          STATUS=$(curl -sfk "$API/$DEPLOY" \
             -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-            -H "Accept: application/json" | jq -r '.spec.template.spec.containers[0].name')
-          echo "Patching $DEPLOY (container=$CONTAINER) to image $IMAGE with restartedAt=$RESTART_AT..."
+            -H "Accept: application/json")
+          CONTAINER=$(echo "$STATUS" | jq -r '.spec.template.spec.containers[0].name')
+          PAUSED=$(echo "$STATUS" | jq -r '.spec.paused // false')
+          echo "Patching $DEPLOY (container=$CONTAINER, paused=$PAUSED) to image $IMAGE..."
 
+          # Strategic merge: update image, set restartedAt, ensure not paused
           curl -sf -X PATCH "$API/$DEPLOY" \
             -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
             -H "Content-Type: application/strategic-merge-patch+json" \
-            -k -d "{\"spec\":{\"template\":{\"metadata\":{\"annotations\":{\"kubectl.kubernetes.io/restartedAt\":\"$RESTART_AT\"}},\"spec\":{\"containers\":[{\"name\":\"$CONTAINER\",\"image\":\"$IMAGE\"}]}}}}" \
-            | jq '{name: .metadata.name, generation: .metadata.generation, image: .spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}'
+            -k -d "{\"spec\":{\"paused\":null,\"template\":{\"metadata\":{\"annotations\":{\"kubectl.kubernetes.io/restartedAt\":\"$RESTART_AT\"}},\"spec\":{\"containers\":[{\"name\":\"$CONTAINER\",\"image\":\"$IMAGE\"}]}}}}" \
+            | jq '{name: .metadata.name, generation: .metadata.generation, image: .spec.template.spec.containers[0].image, paused: .spec.paused, restartedAt: .spec.template.metadata.annotations["kubectl.kubernetes.io/restartedAt"]}'
         done
 
   - name: verify-deploy
@@ -320,13 +324,24 @@ steps:
         for DEPLOY in realestate-crawler-api realestate-crawler-celery realestate-crawler-celery-beat; do
           echo "Verifying $DEPLOY..."
           PODS_API="$BASE_API?labelSelector=app%3D$DEPLOY"
+          RS_API="https://kubernetes:6443/apis/apps/v1/namespaces/realestate-crawler/replicasets?labelSelector=app%3D$DEPLOY"
 
-          # Check deployment spec to confirm patch took effect
-          DEPLOY_IMAGE=$(curl -sfk "$DEPLOY_API/$DEPLOY" \
+          # Check deployment status (spec, conditions, paused, replicas)
+          DEPLOY_STATUS=$(curl -sfk "$DEPLOY_API/$DEPLOY" \
+            -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
+            -H "Accept: application/json")
+          echo "  Deployment spec image: $(echo "$DEPLOY_STATUS" | jq -r '.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image')"
+          echo "  Deployment paused: $(echo "$DEPLOY_STATUS" | jq -r '.spec.paused // false')"
+          echo "  Deployment status: replicas=$(echo "$DEPLOY_STATUS" | jq -r '.status.replicas // 0') updated=$(echo "$DEPLOY_STATUS" | jq -r '.status.updatedReplicas // 0') ready=$(echo "$DEPLOY_STATUS" | jq -r '.status.readyReplicas // 0') unavailable=$(echo "$DEPLOY_STATUS" | jq -r '.status.unavailableReplicas // 0')"
+          echo "  Conditions:"
+          echo "$DEPLOY_STATUS" | jq -r '.status.conditions[]? | "    \(.type): \(.status) (\(.reason // "unknown"))"' 2>/dev/null || echo "    (none)"
+
+          # Check ReplicaSets
+          echo "  ReplicaSets:"
+          curl -sfk "$RS_API" \
             -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
             -H "Accept: application/json" | \
-            jq -r '.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image' 2>/dev/null)
-          echo "  Deployment spec image: $DEPLOY_IMAGE"
+            jq -r '.items[] | "    \(.metadata.name) desired=\(.spec.replicas) ready=\(.status.readyReplicas // 0) image=\(.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image)"' 2>/dev/null || echo "    (none)"
 
           FOUND=0
           for i in $(seq 1 60); do