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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Find and destroy' – how Ukraine's own Peaky Blinders mastered the art of bomber drones
Editor's note: In accordance with the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified by first names and callsigns only. DONETSK OBLAST – From the moment the vehicles duck into pre-prepared positions in the leafy treeline to the first dead Russian soldiers, less than twenty minutes pass. \With the morning sun steadily rising after the team of six complete their short commute to work, the equipment is set up in a clockwork-like rhythm: long telescopic antennas are raised to just peak out of the treeline and sway in the light wind, cables are unravelled, and camping chairs are laid out so the men can work in absolute comfort. Out of heavy-duty plastic travel cases emerge the soldiers' weapons of choice: DJI Mavic drones, available all over the world in shops and of the kind used by civilian video bloggers and aerial photographers everywhere. Here in Donetsk Oblast, just west of the embattled city of Pokrovsk and only a few kilometers away from Russian positions, lost time means missed opportunities to stop the enemy creeping forward to Ukrainian lines. When your unit is consistently deployed to the hottest parts of the front line to do exactly that, every minute counts. Commander Oleksandr 'Zalizniak' is the first to fly out, with an unassuming little munition strapped to the bottom of his Mavic. Zalizniak leads an elite Ukrainian drone unit known as the Peaky Blinders, named after the hit television show which inspired the group's custom-made camouflage flat caps that they often wear on positions. The unit was formed from a group of friends from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, and its surrounds. Consisting of businessmen, lawyers, local officials, and IT specialists, Peaky Blinders now serve under the banner of the Omega special operations unit of Ukraine's National Guard. Although they also use the more well-known first-person view (FPV) drones, the Peaky Blinders' specialty is the use of Mavics as bomber drones to target expendable Russian foot soldiers, which have become the core of Moscow's assault tactics in Ukraine. The Kyiv Independent spent a full day embedded with the unit in late April. Low on battery and needing to return soon if he doesn't hit a target, Zalizniak spots movement in a treeline with thin foliage cover – two Russian troops, carrying something large between them. As commander and the most experienced Mavic pilot, it doesn't take long for Zalizniak to close in on his target, hovering over 50 meters above as he releases the bomb with the push of a button. The result is spectacular: a red-hot fireball bursts out of the large item carried by the Russian soldiers, which turned out to be a fuel canister. Both infantrymen, wounded from the blast itself, are quickly engulfed in flames. The drone lingers to watch their last moments, burning alive among the trees on another country's soil. 'Look at the two of them, they burned up at work,' says the commander with the wry small and dark humor that only someone who does his kind of job could have. Without enough battery to return, Zalizniak's drone is lost, but it's a small price to pay for what was achieved, as those two soldiers' journey toward Ukrainian lines was ended, forever. 'The protection of our infantry is our main driving ideology and our motivation, so that as many of them as possible will one day return home' he said. 'The way I see it, for this whole war, we haven't actually killed anyone, instead we have saved hundreds of lives.' Read also: Russia pushes forward in Donetsk Oblast, threatening Ukrainian pocket around Toretsk After the initial adrenaline of the double hit on the Russian infantryman, the Peaky Blinders find time for a morning coffee and settle into the simple routine that will continue for the rest of the day: change batteries and attach bombs, fly out, look for the enemy, drop bombs, return, and repeat. Looking at the team spread out among the treeline, it is immediately clear that this is no ordinary drone unit. Instead of a dugout, they prefer to work from camping chairs out in the fresh air, especially when weather allows. More strikingly, nobody is watching the live reconnaissance streams of the front line that have become ubiquitous in every Ukrainian drone team or command post. Instead, the team consists solely of those who fly drones and those who arm them. In their eyes, there is no need for more; the Peaky Blinders' philosophy is underpinned by their motto: To find and destroy. Compared to the work of a standard strike FPV team, where a target is first found by reconnaissance teams, only after which a drone is sent out to hit it, this unit does both on the same flight, giving them the ability to strike immediately after spotting an enemy soldier. 'We made our own antennas with amplification, and we can now fly out 8–9 kilometers,' said Zalizniak. 'Thanks to that, we're getting a big result — we're flying into their rear, where they don't expect to see us. But because of that, we're also losing drones.' After moving positions before lunch due to neighboring electronic warfare activity disrupting their work, the four pilots once again fly out into the Russian rear, but in the midday heat, the Russian soldiers are nowhere to be seen out and about. Often, Zalizniak told the Kyiv Independent, when conditions are too good for drone flying, Russian soldiers stay put in basements or other forms of cover. When targets are less keen to come out into the open, one of the most important skills of any aspiring Mavic bomber pilot becomes spotting even the slightest movement on the screen of their remote control. Unlike the cheap cameras on expendable FPV drones, Mavic drones are equipped with high-definition cameras, and some have significant zoom abilities, making them the perfect tool for such joint reconnaissance/bomber missions. "This is where I find creativity,' said pilot Maksym 'Mytrych.' 'Right here — in the very process of fighting the enemy. It's incredibly interesting — how to approach, from which side. For me, it's like a kind of dance." These Russian assaults represent fresh attempts by Moscow to deepen the pincers around the embattled city of Pokrovsk, which has been the central hotspot of the front line since last autumn. East of Pokrovsk, after a period of stability over early spring, Russian forces broke across the Pokrovsk-Kostiantynivka highway, creating a threatening salient that continues to be expanded. Here on the western flank of the city however, Moscow has much less success, stuck just a few kilometers east of the border with Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. But, according to commander Zalizniak, this is not for a lack of trying. 'The enemy has been very active since we've been working here and has been carrying out assaults the whole time,' he said. 'Sometimes they were weaker, sometimes stronger, but they have been happening constantly — from morning to evening, and even at night.' Small, nimble, and easy to deploy quickly, the Peaky Blinders are consistently deployed to some of the hottest sectors of the front line, specialized as they are in repelling enemy infantry assaults. Before being deployed to Donetsk Oblast in the fall of 2024, they played a crucial role in bogging down Russia's surprise cross-border offensive on Kharkiv Oblast, headed for the city that the unit was formed to defend in the first place. Now, with Russian forces increasingly relying on waves of squad-level infantry attacks to overwhelm overstretched Ukrainian lines, their work is crucial in keeping key sectors stable. In conditions of an ever-deepening crisis in infantry strength across the Ukrainian military, it has become more important than ever to eliminate Russian assault groups with drones and artillery long before they reach Ukrainian positions. Over five days of the group's work near Pokrovsk in spring, according to Zalizniak, the Peaky Blinders stopped 106 enemy soldiers in their tracks; numbers higher than most entire specialized drone battalions in standard Ukrainian brigades, achieved by a team of only six in the field. On top of their unique team set-up the Peaky Blinders have one more trick up their sleeve that sets their work above most. Often, bomb-dropping squads arm their Mavics with hand grenades or grenade launcher roads, but, seeing the need for a more effective munition, the unit collaborated with a local manufacturer to produce the gruesomely named Foot Crusher. Deceptively light but packed with hundreds of small metal balls, the bomb usually does enough damage to stop a Russian soldier in their tracks, even if the drop does not land a direct hit. Read also: 'He's mine' – How Ukraine's ace drone unit hunts Russian soldiers near Kupiansk As the day goes on, moments with the sound of a drone above — whether a Mavic, FPV, or larger fixed-wing drone — not present are few and far between. Most are friendly, but if there is any doubt, the team quickly drops what they are doing, grabbing their rifles and portable electronic warfare units to face down the enemy threat. Around 3 p.m. comes an attack from weapons that can not be shot down or evaded — glide bombs. The first group lands further away, but the second is aimed right at the treeline. 'Everyone in the trench!' yells Zalizniak, as the team ducks for cover, 'and don't forget to start recording!' The explosions — three of them — tear through the air and send ripples through the ground as the soldiers wait for the all clear. Taking shelter in a narrow trench, Artem 'Deputat,' who today is responsible for preparing the Foot Crushers, takes a moment to go over the videos recorded from the day's work so far. 'That's it, he's wounded for sure,' he says, watching the recording of a hit on a Russian soldier. This time, it's the handiwork of Dmytro 'Advokat' ('Lawyer' in Ukrainian), who was a lawyer in Kharkiv in civilian life and now continues to run a large volunteer operation alongside his service. '100% . Look, he froze — see?,' said Deputat, watching the playback. 'My hands are shaking from happiness.' After a successful hit, the team makes sure to save the video to post to their unit's social media accounts later. With their trademark flat caps, endearing back story, and proof of effective work, the Peaky Blinders have developed an unmistakable brand as a unit, recently launching an online merchandise store where anyone can buy hoodies and tee-shirts emblazoned with the unit's logo and pictures of the iconic Foot Crusher. As gruesome as they can be, videos of drone hits have become a key part of the information fabric of this war on both sides. This macabre collection of greatest hits fulfils several purposes: proof of the unit's effective work attracts donations for drones and supplies, gives a morale boost for viewers all over Ukraine, and shows the real fate of Russians who enlist to make a quick buck. Compared to the more common FPV footage circulating the net, recordings from Mavics come with the advantage of the high-quality image, making it possible to make out the whites in the eyes of Russian soldiers in the last moments of their lives. 'One Russian sent a video (to the unit's account) and wrote, 'Hi, that's me in the video,'' recalled Zalizniak, 'he recognized himself in the footage — he was seriously wounded there. According to Zalizniak, the Russian soldier was from a 'Storm V' unit, made of convicts from the Russian prison system often coerced into service as expendable assault troops with a promise of a pardon. 'He was injured and became disabled afterwards, but he thanked our pilot for giving him a 'white ticket' (exemption from service), and for not finishing him off,' he added. Read also: As Russia's fiber optic drones flood the battlefield, Ukraine is racing to catch up On the horizon to the south, dark clouds begin to unload rain as the day's work slowly comes to an end. While Mytrych, Deputat and the others begin packing up, Zalizniak and Advokat continue flying until the last possible moments: dusk tends to be the time for increased Russian activity as Ukrainian drone teams transition from day to night shifts. While most drone units often spend several days at position at a time before resting, the Peaky Blinders commute in and out on a daily basis, laser-focused on their specialized task of bombing Russian soldiers by day. While they don't have to sleep out in the field, the routine is exhausting in its own way, but worth it, said Deputat. 'Whether you like it or not, the main thing is that you see the result of this work,' he said. 'You see your comrades who are devoted to this task, and you realize that you're all focused on one shared, effective outcome that you're achieving together.' On the drive back to their base in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, the team crosses open fields that will remain unplanted and unharvested this summer. Their vehicles are protected with electronic warfare devices for the short but deadly drive, but now, with the advent of unjammable Russian fiber optic drones, they always have to keep an eye out for hunters in the air. With Russian advances gaining pace across key sectors of the front line over May and into June, soldiers here have little faith in renewed attempts to reach at least a ceasefire through negotiations. Instead, said Deputat, groups like the Peaky Blinders see clearly that the only real efforts for peace are forged by their own hands, by stopping Russia here on the battlefield. 'In truth, I've come to understand one golden essence and truth: decisions aren't made back there in offices — they're made here, on the ground, locally,' he said, 'that's the objective truth of the modern world.' 'I want peace, but seeing the efforts made for the so-called resolution of the conflict, I don't see that peace.' You can watch the video version of this story here: Hi, this is Francis Farrell, the author of this piece. With the increasing saturation of drones in the sky, I can't say for sWe could just stay in Kyiv and report from there, but we go to the war regularly, to bring it back to you before it comes knocking on your door for real. We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Memri
5 days ago
- Memri
Russia Today Showcases 'Combat Drone School' Where Russian Military Personnel Train To Operate Chinese Drones
The commander of Russia's "combat drone school for Chinese UAVs," a military training center for operators of Chinese drones, described the center's operations in a video posted on May 26, 2025, on Russia Today via X. He said the center trains military personnel as FPV (first-person view) drone operators, DJI Mavic operators, and sappers, and outlined the training process. Commander: "Our training center trains military personnel for the FPV drone operator program, we also train Mavic operators and also train sappers. "Our training center was formed on October 1, 2024. During this time, we have already trained more than 120 pilots. The training period for an FPV drone operator takes three weeks, and for a Mavic operator it takes one week. Now we are in the flight class, the first flight class. Here, when the military personnel first arrive, they immediately begin practicing fine motor skills, the skills that we need, on the simulator, that is on laptops. We have a computer class here. We also have one flight class where practical flights on small-sized drones take place on a special site, which also provides for the development of practical skills. We are now going to conduct a training flight."
Hindustan Times
19-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Seized 100 drones used to smuggle drugs, explosives into Punjab from Pak this year: BSF
NEW DELHI: The Border Security Force (BSF) on Monday said it has seized 100 drones used by terror groups and traffickers to smuggle weapons, explosives and drugs in Punjab along the Indo-Pakistan border this year. 'This year, on 18th May 2025, BSF successfully crossed a significant landmark of recovering the 100th Pakistani drone including 111 kgs of heroin, 60 weapons, 14 hand grenades and more than 10 Kgs of high explosives from entering into Indian territory,' the force, which is deployed along the Indo-Pak border said. BSF said it has also shot down three Pakistani intruders and apprehended 66 Indian smugglers and 3 Pakistani nationals along the border. In 2024, BSF recovered 294 such drones along the Indo-Pak border. To be sure, the 100 drones recovered this year by BSF are commercial drones made in China such as DJI Matrice, DJI Mavic, DJI Air. Investigations conducted over the last four years have indicated that Pakistan-based terror groups were involved in sending drugs and weapons using drones at different locations along the border in Punjab. Over the last 2-3 years, weapons smuggled by drones from Pakistan have been linked in many terror cases such as the murder of Punjab singer Sidhu Moosewala and last year's terror attack in Jammu where five army personnel were killed. In the Sarhali blast case, where a rocket propelled grenade hit the local police station in August 2023, and the RPG attack on the Punjab Police intelligence wing headquarters in Mohali in May 2022, the ammunition was smuggled into the country across the border via drones.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
A Ukrainian unit is hunting down dozens of Russian drones with a flying double-barrel shotgun
A Ukrainian battalion has published a video of a shotgun-mounted drone destroying dozens of targets. It's one of the biggest footage collections of drones shooting down other drones. The tech is likely based on a World War I recoilless gun, which fires from both ends of a barrel. Propellers whirring over the frost-laden landscape, the Ukrainian drone approaches, twin barrels creeping toward the enemy bomber. A flash erupts on its attached first-person view camera, and the target — a DJI Mavic drone — falls lifelessly to the ground. Dozens of other attacks play in rapid succession, each showing the ends of two barrels blasting Mavics out of the sky. The video was posted on Sunday by the 2nd Motorized Battalion of Ukraine's 30th Mechanized Brigade, which is fighting near Bakhmut. Its accompanying caption was simple. "Shooting down enemy drones is one of the priorities of the 2nd Battalion of the 30th Mechanized Brigade," the battalion wrote on its Telegram channel. These clips form part of one of the largest recorded collections made public of a relatively novel concept in action — drones shooting down other drones. The practice also carries implications for how battlefield technology is evolving more broadly in the war, as Ukrainian and Russian units have experimented with attaching firearms and even molten thermite to drones, essentially creating flying guns and flame-spewers. In Sunday's post, the double-barreled shotgun drone primarily targeted what appear to be Mavics. These lightweight, commercial Chinese-made drones are expensive and, therefore, typically reserved for scouting or bombing missions by both sides. Ukraine's Presidential Brigade, which has units fighting in Luhansk, publicized an identical creation to the shotgun drone in early March. Footage showed a recoilless gun concept, where a quadcopter is fitted with long barrels designed to fire from both ends. One side aims at the target, while the opposite end fires to provide counter-recoil and keep the drone stable. "The impact factor is strong. You don't need precision; the spread effect is what matters," a brigade member told the camera. The brigade published a clip of the drone firing at a target board, its twin barrels roaring. Since the drone was not seen with a reload mechanism, the shotgun will likely have to return for manual reloading. The same idea was seen in Ukraine as early as late December, when a Ukrainian charity, LesiaUA, posted clips of what it said were shotgun-mounted drones it had helped to fund. Visually, the drone appears to be the same type as the 30th Mechanized Brigade's. Russian drone manufacturers had already been testing the concept as early as September. State media outlet RIA Novosti published an article that month covering the design of a single barrel mounted on a drone that could fire in both directions simultaneously. "It operates on the principle of the Davis aircraft cannon from World War I," the outlet wrote. Designed from experiments by US Navy Commander Cleland Davis in 1910, the gun provided militaries with a way to reduce recoil but was cumbersome to reload. It saw limited use in World War I. Drone development moves quickly in Ukraine largely due to the industry's decentralized nature. Volunteers, units, and manufacturers typically work on individual projects and promote them to each other. Many creations, such as fiber optic drones, have increasingly featured legacy technology used to beat more modern equipment. In the West, it's prompted concerns among some defense analysts that the NATO military-industrial complex has placed too much emphasis on developing advanced weaponry, without considering the need for quantity or the possibility of lower-tech solutions. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Yahoo
Ukrainian drone operators say fiber-optic and AI drones are rare but could radically change the fight because of how hard it is to defeat them
Fiber-optic and AI drones have come to prominence as countermeasures to jamming and electronic warfare. Ukraine's special drone unit Typhoon said it hasn't seen systematic application of these technologies. But once they become widespread, they'll change drone warfare because they're hard to beat. Constant intense electronic warfare in Russia's war against Ukraine has led to the rise of drones that are resistant to signal jamming. It's still early days, but these things could be game changers, drone operators say. These fiber-optic and artificial intelligence-driven drones are not yet being widely used, a special Ukrainian drone unit told Business Insider, but once they become as prolific as some other technologies, they'll completely change how drone warfare is fought. The war in Ukraine has been defined by the use of uncrewed vehicles, the majority of which rely on radio frequencies to maintain a connection with their operators. In response, both sides have employed electronic warfare capabilities able to jam drones and seize control from the operators or cut video feeds, leaving pilots flying blind. Operators needed a way around electronic warfare. Ukraine first documented the Russians using fiber-optic drones last spring. They became more prominent in the fall. These systems are guided by a hardwire cable similar to a US-made anti-tank TOW missile. The cable maintains a connection between the operator and drone, ensuring the system can't be jammed. At the time, it was unclear if fiber-optic drones would be widely adopted as the next evolution in drone warfare, but it was clear they had promise. Drone experts and top war watchers assessed that they'd have useful applications in some environments and situations but probably weren't a catch-all solution. The cables could get caught or cut, for example, and the systems would have shorter ranges. The development indicated that both Ukraine and Russia would continue coming up with new solutions. As of now, Ukraine's special drone unit Typhoon doesn't see a systematic application of fiber-optic drones or systems controlled by AI, another adaptation to electronic warfare that is highly sought after but still experimental. "However," Typhoon told Business Insider, "if widely adopted, these technologies would fundamentally change drone warfare." Typhoon is a newer National Guard of Ukraine drone unit. Unveiled last fall, Typhoon consists of engineers and operators specialized in uncrewed systems. Right now, Typhoon operates a diverse range of uncrewed aerial systems, mostly supplied by the National Guard and domestic innovation outfits. The unit's short-range reconnaissance drones, such as the first-person view DJI Mavic, are used for gathering intelligence, assessing targets, and guiding strikes. Its short-range strike drones are deployed for precision hits on enemy personnel, positions, and equipment, as well as against aerial targets. Typhoon also operates bomber drones like HeavyShot and Vampire, which are mostly used at night because they're larger in size and easier to spot. Fixed-wing reconnaissance drones and strike drones are also often used for longer-range missions. But the unit is also actively integrating emerging technologies, such as fiber-optic drones and "machine vision tracking with homing capabilities," which would help improve targeting. Each drone serves a specific purpose in missions, and part of Typhoon's mission is the training of operators for those specific skill sets. With fiber-optic and AI-driven drones, the challenges for front-line forces will be even greater. Both of these systems are harder to take down than the regular radio frequency drones because they are invulnerable to electronic warfare. A drone flown by an autonomous terminal guidance system, once locked onto its target, would still maintain its flight path even if it's jammed, effectively making it a fire-and-forget weapon. Fiber-optic drones are a less-expensive, lower-tech solution, keeping a hard connection so that operators can ignore any electronic warfare and continue to fly the drone towards its target. Typhoon said the options for destroying fiber-optic drones are relatively limited right now. Because they don't "rely on radio signals that can be detected by conventional electronic warfare systems," the unit said, "the only way to counter them is through timely visual detection and physical destruction." Simply put, that means they have to see it and shoot it. The Ukrainians have deployed shotguns as a counter-drone tool. But they aren't always easy to detect, which means warfighters may have limited time to react for a kinetic kill. These systems aren't seeing constant or consistent use just yet, but the Ukrainian forces have praised them for their accuracy and ease of use. Ukrainian and Western drone companies are now racing to churn them out. Read the original article on Business Insider
