In yet another viral video showcasing drone warfare on the Russia-Ukraine frontlines, Kyiv released footage of one of its kamikaze UAVs taking down a Russian Orlan-10 drone mid-air.
The Orlan-10 is a Russian medium-range, multi-purpose uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) primarily used for aerial reconnaissance, surveillance, signal jamming, and search-and-rescue operations. However, since 2022, an upgraded version of the Orlan-10 has been in production, designed specifically to target and strike Ukrainian positions.
According to pro-Kyiv social media handles that shared the video, the destroyed Russian UAV was not an armed variant but was one of the regular types conducting a surveillance mission at the time it was hit. The footage was reportedly captured by another Ukrainian First-Person View (FPV) drone that was tailing the Russian aircraft. The date and location of the incident remain unknown.
The video shows the white Orlan-10 gliding over an unspecified area for a few seconds before being intercepted by a Ukrainian suicide drone. The kamikaze UAV approaches from below and strikes the Orlan-10, severing its right wing completely. Moments later, a parachute deploys from the damaged Russian drone as it drifts helplessly through the air.
THE WEEK could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
The West has successfully armed Ukraine with a wide range of drone designs that have been effectively striking Russian targets since the war began. Following the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the Russia-Ukraine war has further demonstrated how combat drones have radically transformed modern warfare. These relatively inexpensive, fiber-optic-guided devices are capable of destroying armored vehicles, bunkers, and even tanks with surprising ease.
Fresh Russian strikes on Ukraine
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said a Russian missile strike on a nine-story Kyiv apartment building was a sign that more pressure must be applied on Moscow to agree to a ceasefire, as Moscow intensifies attacks in the three-year war.
WATCH THE VIRAL VIDEO HERE:
The drone and missile attack on Kyiv early on Tuesday, the deadliest assault on the capital this year, killed 28 people across the city and injured 142 more, Kyiv Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said on Thursday.
Zelenskyy, along with the head of the presidential office Andrii Yermak and Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, visited the site of the apartment building in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district Thursday morning, laying flowers and paying tribute to the 23 people who died there after a direct hit by a missile collapsed the structure.
Drone vs drone: Viral war video shows Ukrainian FPV kill Russian Orlan-10 mid-air | WATCH
