Watch Ukraine's 'Kamikaze Drones' Slam Into Trucks, Tanks, Other Drones
Ukraine’s information war against Russia during its current counter offensive now includes dramatized video of dive bombing drones.
On Thursday, the YouTube channel for the Security Service of Ukraine—AKA the SBU, the country’s intelligence and security agency—released a video showcasing special operations in which drone pilots slam their unmanned aerial devices into Russian vehicles, soldiers, as well as other drones. (Content warning: the videos are not necessarily graphic in nature but they do imply violence and the potential for bodily harm).
The SBU said these so-called “kamikaze drones,” invoking the Japanese suicide bombing tactic of WWII, were conducted by the Special Operations Center’s special forces “Alpha” group. One sliver of video shows a drone targeting an armored vehicle. Another drone angles down toward what’s apparently a Russian truck while a soldier dives through the door. The SBU said these drones contain an explosive payload meant to detonate on impact.
The ongoing war in Ukraine has seen one of the most massive deployments of active drone warfare in modern history. Photos from late last year show Russia has also made use of so-called “suicide drones.” Other than these videos of smaller drone attacks, Ukrainian agencies has shared multiple videos of unmanned aerial vehicle air-to-ground attacks, mostly from a relatively cheap Turkish-made drone , the Bayraktar TB2 UAV. Ukraine has been more than happy to spread videos of Bayraktar drone strikes on social media.
