Russia

Ukraine is vastly expanding the pilot training component of its Army of Drones initiative that collects donations from around the world to buy UAVs and strengthen the nation’s aerial defensive assets battling Russia’s invasion.

It’s frequently been said war is hell, and now dark mockery is being thrown into its merciless mix. Evidence of that came with a video uploaded by Ukraine drone unit Aerorozvidka illustrating what it calls the “dronephobia” affliction of an apparent Russian target on the ground melting down at the approach of a hostile UAV.

Russian drones, which help target Ukrainian troops, are being manufactured using Western technology and parts from around the world. This is a claim that Ukraine has put forward after stripping down a surveillance drone it captured from Russia.

Much attention has been directed to the remarkable success of Ukraine forces repurposing commercial and enterprise UAVs to attack incomparably better-armed Russian troops invading the nation. Yet elsewhere in Ukraine, drones are providing critical work for humanitarian and other non-combat operations as well, including craft Canadian company Draganfly is supplying to detect the rising number of Russian-laid landmines.

A group of brainy volunteers in Kyiv producing drones for deployment by Ukraine’s army against Russian invaders have added trashed e-cigarette batteries to their mix of DYI materials being used in support the nation’s defense.

Moves are under way to create the first mass-scale UAV manufacturing operation in Russia, though details of that effort make it unlikely it will compensate for the worsening shortage of commercial drones in the country, as store-bought craft continue being snapped up and sent off to the war effort in Ukraine.

In case anyone needed additional proof of just how grim and merciless the invasion of Ukraine has become, contributors to a few Reddit subreddits have helpfully provided new evidence. Yesterday, a video was posted featuring footage from a purported Ukraine drone as it hovers over, then drops a grenade near a Russian soldier as he tries to empty his bowels – immediately generating bountiful commentary, none of it sympathetic.

Despite initial Russian claims that an oil refinery that burst into flames after being struck by two “terrorist” drones of purported Ukraine origin, rising speculation – backed by some visual support – suggests the kamikaze UAVs may have been bought for several thousand dollars on the Chinese marketplace Alibaba. If so, that kind of procurement and deployment should get people thinking in a variety of ways.

In what represents yet another unexpected consequence of a war Moscow incorrectly believed would be a quick walk in the park, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is provoking the depletion of the nation’s supply of commercial drones, and sparking a correspondingly steep rise in prices for those that remain.

Ukraine’s 47th Motorized Infantry Battalion has released a video that shows Ukrainian troops using a drone armed with thermal cameras and bombs to hunt down Russian soldiers at night.

A 15-year-old amateur pilot in Ukraine has provided an excellent example of how consumer drones have become one of the worst – and deadliest ­– nightmares for Russian armed forces seeking to conquer the country, according to a report detailing the teen’s role in the destruction of a convoy advancing on Kyiv.

New video evidence of how smaller drones are significantly strengthening Ukraine’s efforts to repel invading Russian forces has surfaced showing a self-made UAV using simple grenades to take out a $3 million Russian tank.

The world’s largest drone manufacturer, DJI, says it will temporarily suspend all business activities in Russia and Ukraine “in light of current hostilities.” This move makes DJI the first Chinese company to pull out of Russia since the country launched its invasion of Ukraine two months ago.

Despite the intense and increasingly deadly invasion of their country by Russia, defense forces in Ukraine haven’t lost their sense of humor, and are now using it to mock the reputedly formidable Russian Orlan-10 drone as a DIY assemblage of foreign parts.

Aerorozvidka, a dedicated drone unit within the Ukrainian army, is leveraging Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system to hunt and attack the Russian forces “as they sleep.”

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entering week four, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called on DJI founder and CEO Frank Wang to “end any relationships” with the aggressor country. Insisting that Russian troops are using DJI’s products to navigate missiles to kill Ukrainian civilians, the minister has urged the Chinese tech giant to “block all DJI products” purchased and activated in Russia, Syria, and Lebanon.

A member of Wales’ national legislature has raised over $56,000 in donations for the purchase of specialized drones to be used by Ukrainian medics trying to locate and treat people injured amid the Russian invasion of the country.

Less than two weeks after Ukraine officials called on drone-owning citizens to volunteer their craft for use defending the country from invading Russian forces, some of those non-military craft have now been reportedly weaponized to drop Molotov cocktails on targets below.

Footage apparently shot by one of Ukraine’s Turkish-built Bayraktar TB2 drones shows the routing of an ambushed Russian convoy as it neared Kyiv this week, forcing the diminished column to beat a hasty retreat – and offering an example of the determined and often successful counterattacks defenders have inflicted on invading troops during the three-week conflict.

Eyes on Ukraine, a Dutch volunteer group, says it’s bringing 187 DJI Mini 2 drones to Ukraine so “we all can see” what Russia is doing to the East European nation. The group says it will strive to get as many drones as possible in the air over Kyiv and all other places in Ukraine where fighting is going on “so the truth will not perish in this war.”

Among the large number of heroes in the Ukraine’s determination to repel invading Russian armed forces is a mid-size, locally made drone known as the Punisher – something of a weaponized step-up vehicle from consumer craft to the formidable Turkish-built Bayraktar TB2 UAVs also being flown in the country’s defense. As Team Putin might woefully attest, the pint-size Punisher has been living up to its name.