A Russian drone team has used a small first person view (FPV) aircraft to strike a Ukrainian military vehicle hidden in a forest, the Defense Ministry said on Friday, releasing footage filmed from the robotic aircraft.
The video shows what appears to be a military truck parked between thick trees and covered with branches for camouflage. An FPV quadcopter is normally so small that even a collision with a bush can break it. The one featured in the clip is seen maneuvering through the forest, before getting a clean line to dart towards the target. It flew extremely low, as evidenced by the leaves stirred up from the ground by its motors.
The ministry said the remotely controlled short-range aircraft was dispatched after a reconnaissance patrol spotted the Ukrainian vehicle in the border area of Russia’s Kursk Region. It is unclear if the hardware was manned at the time of the strike.
Kiev launched its Kursk incursion in August, and is reportedly encountering serious difficulties supplying its forces with fuel and munitions. Some Ukrainian troops have reportedly been forced to abandon their vehicles and move on foot after running out of fuel.
Ukraine has suffered over 32,600 casualties in their Kursk operation and has lost hundreds of pieces of heavy weaponry, including 213 tanks, 136 infantry fighting vehicles, and over 1,100 armored cars, according to Russian military estimates released on Friday.