Ukrainians say civilian-funded drones destroyed 3 high-value Russian air defense systems in a single day
It posted clips of drone attacks, saying it hit a Tor-M2, a Buk-M2, and a Buk-M3.
In its post on Saturday, the unit also highlighted that the drones were funded by civilians.
The drone unit of a Ukrainian brigade in Zaporizhzhia said it destroyed three advanced Russian air defense systems in a single day.
The Ronin company of the 65th Mechanized Rifle Brigade posted footage of the first-person view drone attacks on Saturday, saying it took out a Tor-M2, a Buk-M2, and a Buk-M3.
Those are some of Moscow's most prized mobile surface-to-air missile systems, with the Tor-M2 lauded in Russian state media in 2023 as a "cutting-edge" weapon that can counter drone swarms on the move.
With a range of about 7.5 miles, the Tor-M2 is designed to engage up to 48 targets at once at low to medium altitudes.
The Buk-M3 is also one of Russia's newest air defenses. Russian state media outlet TASS compared it in 2016 to the Medium Extended Air Defense System, a Western-made system meant to replace the Patriot. Each Patriot system is estimated to cost about $1.1 billion.
The clips posted by the "Ronin" company on Saturday showed first-person view drones closely approaching the air defense systems before their video feeds went dark. While the drones' flight trajectory and distance to the Russian defenses indicate a successful hit, Business Insider couldn't independently verify if the systems were actively deployed assets or were destroyed.
But the videos show yet another example of how the fighting in Ukraine is increasingly relying on cheap loitering munitions, even to counter high-value targets.
Drone makers in Ukraine usually tell BI that they sell or create exploding drones for $750 to $1,500 apiece, depending on the device's size.
Meanwhile, it's difficult to pinpoint how much Russia spends on its air defense systems. The Ukrainian military has estimated that the Tor-M2 costs about $27 million per unit and that the Buk-M3 costs about $40 to $50 million per unit.
The Ronin company's post on Saturday also indicated that the drones used in the attack weren't officially supplied but received through civilian donations.
"The sponsor of the defeat is the Sternenko community," the unit wrote on its social media channel, referring to the Ukrainian crowdfunding activist Serhii Sternenko.
Sternenko, one of the biggest drone crowdfunders in Ukraine, acknowledged the attacks on Saturday, calling the drone unit "true masters of their craft" in a post on his Telegram channel.
"We provide them with drones upon individual requests specifically for performing such tasks," he wrote, adding that the air defense systems were positioned at the Russian rear.
Drone warfare continues to evolve on the battlefield in Ukraine.
For example, with loitering munitions becoming so ubiquitous, the war fronts have increasingly been reported to become saturated with jammers. That prompted Russian units to bring fiber-optic drones to the fight last year, and Ukrainian companies and brigades have been following suit in manufacturing their own versions.
Russia's defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment sent by BI outside regular business hours.
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