Ukraine’s intel tells of Russia’s drones used to locate air defenses

Russia has started deploying new, cheaply-made drones to identify Ukrainian air defenses.

That’s according to a Ukrainian defense intelligence spokesman Andriy Cherniak, who spoke with Reuters, Ukrinform reports.

The two new types of drone, which Russia has used in five drone attacks in the last two to three weeks including an overnight strike on Thursday, are produced from materials like foam plastic and plywood, the official said.

One type carries a camera and a Ukrainian mobile phone SIM card to send images back to the Russian military.

"They identify where our mobile groups are positioned, where the machine guns are that can destroy them. They're trying ... to get a picture of where all our air defenses are located," said Cherniak.

The new Russian drones with cameras do not carry explosives but closely resemble regular Shahed drones and fly with groups of them, Cherniak said.

The second new type of drone contains no explosive charge or only a small one and is being used as a decoy, Cherniak added.

Because it is virtually indistinguishable from a regular attack drone from the ground, it still needs to be shot down, revealing where Ukraine's air defense systems are located. He said the new drones probably cost as little as $10,000 each despite their long range, making them far cheaper to produce than air defense missiles.

The drones can also fly at an altitude of 1,000 m, putting them out of range of machine guns and automatic rifles, he said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Ukraine’s air defense forces downed 20 of the 22 kamikaze drones Russia launched overnight Friday.