Forbes: Ukrainian drones strike moving Russian tank at night

“Our pilots demonstrated the highest level of skill,” the Ukrainian military’s drone branch boasted.

Oct 13, 2024 - 14:00

Operators from the 412th Separate Nemesis Unmanned Systems Battalion successfully detected and struck a Russian tank at night, as shown in a video shared by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces’ official Telegram channel and highlighted by Forbes defense correspondent David Axe.

This incident highlights Ukraine’s rapid progress in drone warfare, driven by the newly formed Unmanned Systems Forces. Once targeting stationary positions, night-capable “vampire” drones are now successfully striking moving targets, showcasing Ukraine’s growing expertise.

Ukraine’s night drones are now hitting moving Russian tanks.
Operators from the 412th Nemesis Battalion spotted a fast-moving Russian "turtle" tank and, with precision, dropped two grenades—one to crack its armor and the second under its tracks. All at night. pic.twitter.com/2RPMPrXAys
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) October 13, 2024

“Aiming an unguided grenade at a speeding tank is a difficult task,” Axe wrote.

The drone pilots skillfully targeted a fast-moving Russian “turtle” tank, breaching its add-on armor with one grenade and disabling its tracks with a second—all under cover of darkness. Though a third grenade missed, the damage was done, causing the tank to veer off the road as its crew abandoned the vehicle.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, announced in February the creation of a separate drone branch—the world’s first—dedicated to enhancing drone warfare capabilities. Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, said drones have “fundamentally changed the situation on the battlefield,” with night operations becoming a priority.

Early in the war, drones lacked nighttime capabilities, but the introduction of infrared-equipped “vampire” drones changed that, enabling effective nighttime strikes.

These drones wreaked havoc on unprepared Russian forces, who had once seen darkness as protection. Known as “Baba Yagas” by Russian troops, the drones initially targeted stationary positions, but as Ukrainian operators gained skill, they began successfully striking moving targets as well.

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