Late last month, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned that attacks on Russian soil were an “inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process” of the ongoing war.
Ukrainian officials were initially hesitant to claim previous barrages targeting areas within Russian territory, however, this mentality has certainly shifted as Kyiv’s counteroffensive is now in full swing.
Since July, U.S. officials believe that Ukraine has reclaimed roughly half of the land Russian forces have taken since the beginning of the war.
This week alone, Kyiv has made critical advances in the Zaporizhzhia region, cracking Moscow’s strongholds and boosting morale amongst Ukrainian troops.
Drone Warfare in Ukraine
While the variety of advanced and lethal weaponry used by Kyiv in its counterattack is certainly responsible for a large part of the country’s recent advances, one munition-type stands out. Since February 2022, drone warfare has essentially monopolized both sides of Russia’s invasion. Kyiv and Moscow have employed a range of unmanned aerial vehicles acquired domestically and from foreign partners to aid their respective war efforts. These cheaper and more easily accessible weapons provide surveillance, intelligence gathering and strike capabilities to operators. As showcased in the numerous videos that have circulated on social media, UAVs have been successfully used by both sides to obliterate military assets, personnel and heavy weaponry like main battle tanks (MBTs).
Video Showcases Kyiv’s Loitering Munitions at Work
Just this week, a Ukrainian suicide drone attack reportedly obliterated 4 II-76 heavy cargo aircraft in Pskov Oblast, Russia.
Just before midnight, the destruction of the airframes followed by an ominous orange glow emerged near the Kresy airbase, also referred to as Princess Olga Pskov International Airport. Both open-source intelligence trackers @UAWeapons and @OSINTechnical published footage of the incident.
According to an account on Yahoo News, “Subsequent reports claimed up to 22 Ukrainian drones had descended upon the airbase and “damaged”—in the words of Russia’s defense ministry—four large Il-76 strategic transport planes, of which two caught fire, as well as exploding aviation fuel storage tanks. No personnel casualties were reported, however.”
Loitering munitions, also dubbed “suicide” or “kamikaze drones” can passively loiter around a target before engaging. These aerial weapon systems have taken out civilian residences, critical infrastructure and scores of military assets in Ukraine throughout the last year and a half of warfare. Smaller and easier to control than cruise missiles and larger UAVs, loitering munitions are designed to self-destruct upon striking a target.
Russia has notably deployed Iranian-designed suicide drones to target Ukraine, a weapons exchange that Tehran denied for many months. Kyiv uses a combination of homegrown and foreign-delivered drones, including the homegrown RAM II UAS high-precision combat loitering UAV and American-made Switchblade drones.
Ukrainian forces have also developed creative experimental drones in recent months which have proven to be important contributors to their ongoing counteroffensive. Last month, a sea drone successfully attacked Russia’s bridge to annexed Crimea, indicating how vulnerable Moscow’s sole link to the peninsula really is.
The “Sea Baby” drone attack was also the first strike that the Security Service of Ukraine officially took responsibility for.
Maya Carlin, a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.
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