A group of amateur drone pilots has claimed it helped destroy Russia's 40-mile convoy in a series of brutal ambush attacks.
The notorious 'death convoy', which was seemingly bound for Kyiv, was decimated by wave after wave of Ukrainian aerial bombardments after it came to a standstill as a result of logistics and supply issues.
However, much of the damage inflicted on the convoy was carried out by volunteer experts from a specialist air reconnaissance unit named Aerorozvidka, the group's commander insists.
The squad used drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras to drop small bombs on the Russian tanks and armed vehicles, which they claim helped to halt a massive Russian advance during the first days of the Ukrainian invasion.
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The specialist unit also reportedly used quad bikes to stealthily approach the Russian columns under the cover of darkness, where they would then attack supply depots.
Commander Lt. Col. Yaroslav Honchar revealed to the Guardian: “This one little unit in the night destroyed two or three vehicles at the head of this convoy, and after that it was stuck."
"They stayed there two more nights, and [destroyed] many vehicles.”
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“The first echelon of the Russian force was stuck without heat, without oil, without bombs and without gas. And it all happened because of the work of 30 people,” he added.
A Russian airborne landing attempt at Hostomel airport was also apparently foiled by the elite unit, after it started shelling 200 paratroopers.
“One bee is nothing, but if you are faced with a thousand, it can defeat a big force. We are like bees, but we work at night,” Honchar said.
Central to the group's success so far has been the fact that they tend to attack at night 'when Russians sleep', with Vladimir Putin's forces generally staying in their tanks for fear of aerial attacks by the Ukrainians.
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“We look specifically for the most valuable truck in the convoy and then we hit it precisely and we can do it really well with very low collateral damage — even in the villages it’s possible. You can get much closer at night," the Aerorozvidka commander observed.
As per The Sun, the team was first founded back in 2014, when a group of young Ukrainians volunteered to join the resistance against Russia, which has annexed Crimea.
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Topics: Russia, Ukraine, Technology
Tom Fenton