Ukraine Drone Flies Into Russian Warehouse, Destroys Tanks, IFVs, Artillery

A Ukrainian drone pilot maneuvered his UAV into a Russian armored vehicle warehouse in Donetsk and detonated it, destroying a number of armored vehicles - including two tanks, anti-aircraft artillery and infantry fighting vehicles.

The resultant fires and explosions burned down the building. An efficient day's work. JL 

Isabel Van Brugen reports in Newsweek:

Ukraine's Bulava strike unit destroyed two Russian T-72 tanks, S-60 anti-aircraft guns, a BMP-3 Russian infantry fighting vehicle, Ural-4320 off-road vehicles, and a rare BMPT. The attack took place on a Russian warehouse in the village of Staromlynivka, in Donetsk. "The pilot professionally and systematically flies into the hangar and selects the equipment to destroy. As a result, the entire hangar completely burned down."

Russia lost military equipment worth "millions" in a Ukrainian drone strike that targeted a warehouse in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, Telegram channels reported on Tuesday.

Ukraine's Bulava strike unit destroyed two Russian T-72 tanks, S-60 anti-aircraft guns, a BMP-3 Russian infantry fighting vehicle, Ural-4320 off-road vehicles, and a rare BMPT, also known as the "Terminator," which is an armored vehicle designed to accompany tanks in battle.

 

The attack took place on a Russian warehouse in the village of Staromlynivka, a Ukrainian Telegram channel that publishes news on first-person view (FPV) drones in the war said, sharing a video of the incident.

Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have played a crucial role throughout the war. Mykhailo Fedorov, who is Ukraine's vice prime minister for innovation in education, science and technology, and the digital transformation minister, has helmed Ukraine's drone program since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine's government launched its "Army of Drones" initiative and fundraising campaign to purchase drones for Ukraine's defense forces.

 

The Telegram channel said Ukraine used drones worth 200,000 hryvnias (around $5,216) and burned "tens of millions of enemy equipment."

 

"Notice how the pilot professionally and systematically flies into the hangar and selects the equipment to destroy. As a result, the entire hangar completely burned down," it said.

 

"Video from Ukraine's Bulava strike unit showing FPV strikes on Russian armor in a warehouse. Notably, cheap nets over the entrances likely could have prevented these losses," Rob Lee, a senior fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute, wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

"An indication of complacency leaving this much equipment this exposed so close to the front line," he added.

 

Newsweek couldn't independently verify the authenticity of the video, and has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email.

Both Russia and Ukraine have lost large amounts of equipment and many troops in the ongoing war.

Kyiv's military said in an update on Tuesday that Russia had lost 1,230 troops in a single day.

 

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, which posts daily figures on Russia's troop and equipment losses, said Moscow had lost 1,230 soldiers over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 404,950.

Russia has also lost a total of 6,503 tanks, 12,268 armored combat vehicles, 9,773 artillery systems, and 338 military jets in the ongoing war, the update said. Newsweek couldn't independently verify Kyiv's figures.

Estimates of casualty numbers vary, with Ukraine's figures usually exceeding those of its Western allies. Moscow rarely shares information on the number of casualties it has sustained in the war.