Kyiv Post obtained an exclusive video showing the Ukrainian military destroying a Russian tank in the Pokrovsky sector using a First Person View (FPV) drone.
The strike group, Mosquitoes, of the separate consolidated reconnaissance-strike unit of Brodyaga, destroyed the tank.
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A Ukrainian serviceman with the call sign “Sil’” [Salt], the commander of the crew that destroyed the tank, told Kyiv Post that the Russians continue conducting offensive actions in the Pokrovsky sector in the Donetsk region.
“The occupiers conducted another assault with the support of tanks and other armored vehicles,” he said. “The Russian tank tried to fire at the positions of the Ukrainian military but was destroyed with the help of an FPV drone.”
The video from the drone’s camera first shows a direct hit on the tank, then an overhead shot as it continues to burn. The footage quality does not allow for determining exactly which tank model was affected.
The cost of the drone used in the mission is approximately Hr.15,000-20,000 ($372-496). This stands in stark contrast to the significantly higher cost of the equipment destroyed. For example, the value of an older Soviet T-72 can cost nearly half a million dollars. The cost of a new T-72 tank ranges from $3-4 million, depending on the configuration.
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FPV drones, which can drop explosives or serve as kamikaze drones, are causing heavy damage on the battlefield. A Russian soldier recently pleaded on social media to pump shotguns to counter the Ukrainian drones, stating, “They’re simply burning through us.”
On the flip side, up to 90 percent of wounded Ukrainian soldiers treated at stabilization points have been injured by FPV drones or explosives dropped by drones.
Dmytro Lysenko, a drone pilot with the 109th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, hunts for Russian soldiers and heavy armor almost daily in the Donetsk region. He told Kyiv Post that during his time in the trench, while the Russians would shoot at them with everything possible, the drone was the scariest.
“A shell can fly and miss, and that’s it. But a drone pilot aims and will be very accurate when they drop an explosive,” he said.
Special operations forces often report destroying enemy manpower concentrations with FPV drones. For instance, Special Ops reported the elimination of more than a dozen Russian soldiers during a successful mission.
The SSO also managed to destroy various pieces of military equipment, including armored personnel carriers, tanks, anti-aircraft missile gun complexes, self-propelled artillery pieces, howitzers, mortar positions, and even TOS-1A 220mm “Solntsepyok” MLRS fitted with thermobaric warheads.
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