Russia is using cheap drones with cameras to localize Ukraine's air defense - media

Russia has begun to use new, cheap drones in its long-range attacks on Ukraine to detect Ukrainian air defense systems. The drones are equipped with cameras and SIM cards of Ukrainian operators to send images to the Russian military. This was reported by UNN with reference to Reuters.

Details

russia has begun to incorporate new, cheap drones into its long-range attacks on Ukraine to try to identify air defenses, take out any damage, and act as decoys. The two new types of drones that Russia has used in five drone attacks in the past two to three weeks, including Thursday's night strike, are made of materials such as foam and plywood

It is noted that one type of drone carries a camera and a SIM card of Ukrainian operators to send images to the Russian military.

They determine where our mobile groups are located, where the machine guns that can destroy them are. They are trying to... get a picture of where all our air defense systems are located

The publication emphasizes that Russia is seeking to adapt its tactics and test new technologies to gain an advantage in its daily missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

Iranian-built Shahed attack drones have been a staple of Russian air attacks since they were first used in the first year of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022. Ukraine, which has been calling on the West since March to strengthen its air defense to repel increased Russian airstrikes on its energy facilities, has been trying to hide the location of its air defense systems

Chernyak said that the new Russian drones with cameras do not carry explosives, but are very similar to conventional Shahed drones and fly with them in groups.

Since it is virtually indistinguishable from a conventional ground attack drone, it still needs to be shot down to reveal the location of Ukraine's air defense systems

The new drones are likely to cost only $10,000 each, despite their long range, making them much cheaper to produce than air defense missiles.

Recall

Romania's Ministry of National Defense confirmed on Thursday that it has identified wreckage of a UAV of Russian origin in the vicinity of Plauru in Tulcea County, an area where alerts were issued due to Russian attacks on Ukraine.