Footage has emerged of Ukrainian troops using remote-controlled ‘kamikaze’ cars packed with explosives to obliterate Russian tanks.
Fighting is mainly centred around the easternmost regions of Ukraine, where the city of Bakhmut has been locked in intense conflict.
Some Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines are now using explosive-packed remote-controlled cars, also known as unmanned ground vehicles, to hit Russian targets, according to a video shared on social media over the weekend.
The video, first posted as part of a YouTube documentary about the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, appears to show Ukrainian soldiers prepare a remote-controlled vehicle for battle before sending it off.
The soldiers are then seen controlling the vehicle’s movement on a phone, so that it explodes near what appears to be a Russian tank.
Some Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines are now using explosive-packed remote-controlled cars, also known as unmanned ground vehicles, to hit Russian targets, according to a video shared on social media over the weekend
‘Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade is using kamikaze UGVs packed with explosives on Russian positions,’ tweeted Rob Lee, a Foreign Policy Research Institute senior fellow
Video from the documentary was posted over the weekend on Twitter, where it has gained more than 400,000 views.
‘Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade is using kamikaze UGVs packed with explosives on Russian positions,’ tweeted Rob Lee, a Foreign Policy Research Institute senior fellow.
The use of these UGVs was also covered by the pro-Russian Telegram channel Reports of the militia of Novorossiya ZOV, which argued that the weapons ‘can be dangerous for armored vehicles, dugouts and personnel’.
More information about the extent of the use of the remote-controlled vehicles, including how many Ukraine holds and how often soldiers are using this type of weapon, has not been released by the Ukrainian military.
The soldiers are seen controlling the vehicle’s movement on a phone, directing it to detonate near what appears to be a Russian tank.
The video, first posted as part of a YouTube documentary about the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, appears to show a group of heavily armed Ukrainian soldiers prepare a remote-controlled vehicle for combat before sending it off
The Third Separate Assault Brigade was formed last year from the Azov Regiment. Its soldiers have been fighting in the battle to take Bakhmut, which has been locked in attritional warfare.
Russia has also used UGVs throughout the war, including their ‘Marker’ vehicles, four of which were send to eastern Ukraine in January.
Ukraine said Tuesday that Russian cruises missiles were destroyed in a blast on the Crimean peninsula that was annexed by Moscow in 2014, but denied responsibility for the ‘mysterious’ incident.
‘An explosion in the town of Dzhankoi in the north of temporarily occupied Crimea destroyed Russian Kalibr-NK cruise missiles as they were being transported by rail,’ Ukrainian military intelligence said in a statement on social media.
Soldiers in the video are seen steering the remote control vehicle using a device before sheltering in the trenches
Russian investigators had earlier said that air defence systems repelled a drone attack at Dzhankoi and that debris from the incident damaged a shop and home and left one person injured.
‘The targets of all downed drones were civilian objects,’ the Investigative Committee added in its statement.
Dzhankoi is a logistics hub on the border between Russian-controlled Crimea and southern Ukraine, which came under control of Russian forces after they invaded in February last year.
Oleg Kryuchkov, an advisor to the Russian-installed head of Crimea, said the attack was apparently ‘revenge’ for the annexation, several days after Moscow celebrated the ninth anniversary of the region’s takeover.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Crimea over the weekend, his first to the peninsula since he sent troops to Ukraine on February 24 last year.
