The American television channel CNN published exclusive footage of the launch of the Ukrainian drone An-196 “February” UAV at a target located deep in Russian territory.
The channel’s website notes that CNN received unprecedented exclusive access to one of the Ukrainian units of long-range drones, which is part of the Main Intelligence Directorate.
From this unit, only two people had the right to speak on the record, and only using their call signs: Serge and Vector.
“Serge” said that he personally supervised more than 500 long-range drone strikes on Russian territory since the start of a full-scale war.
It is noted that CNN representatives spent two days traveling around the country with the unit, preparing to launch more than 100 drones on the night of September 29 to carry out missions in the PF. CNN is not disclosing the locations of sites visited due to operational security concerns.
The Ukrainian military said their target was an ammunition train, namely train cars loaded with recently delivered Iranian missiles parked at the depot.
The facility is located on the outskirts of the tiny village of Kotluban in the Volgograd region.
It is noted that regardless of the mission’s objectives, the Ukrainian military adheres to a strict set of operating procedures, including meetings in various locations throughout Ukraine. In particular:
- route planning in the Russian Federation takes place from a secret place located underground;
- Subsequently, the journalists, turning off their phones, went to the territory of the complex, where there were a number of trucks. There, in a tiny room with a table and two bunk beds, further attack planning took place, after which Vector gave a short briefing to his subordinates, adding that other units would be involved in this mission. He ordered his men to begin preparing routes and handed over a small USB drive with information about the upcoming mission.
Vector explained to journalists that the planning stage of such missions is critically important.
Planning is perhaps 60% of success, everything depends on planning,” he emphasized.
He also noted the quality of Russian air defense, especially over the past 12 months.
We are successful guys, and we find windows, but it’s not easy,” he noted.
It is noted that each drone will be programmed for more than 1,000 different routes in order to avoid complex Russian air defense systems. Vector admitted that some of it resembles a video game.
It looks like we are playing with them,” he noted. – But this is not a game. This is war.
Serge added that not all the men in his unit are career military men like him. He served more than 20 years in the Ukrainian army and began flying drones back in 2014.
Along with the “February”, other kamikaze drones are also used in attacks on Russia, in particular the domestic “Rubaka”.
According to Vector, these drones are essential to the success of any mission. Their task is to suppress air defense and divert fire from the February, which can carry a 250 kg load.
They are very simple and we can use them with or without a payload,” he said of the smaller drones.
We try to mix them up, and we try to send them from different distances, from different launch sites… they try to destroy them. They send helicopters and missiles, turn on electronic warfare,” Vector added.
In other parts of Ukraine, about 80 other GUR fighters were preparing for flight 90 other drones, not all of which were “February” ones. According to Serge, about 30% of all drones launched then were on decoy missions.
In complete darkness, the drones are pushed into position. A car with pilots enters from behind. The propeller starts, and the pilots, having ensured a smooth takeoff, begin a high-speed chase along the asphalt. Once in the air, the fully autonomous drone begins to move towards the planned control points, CNN describes the drone launch.
Mission success is tracked in three ways:
- through intelligence by people “on the ground”;
- messages in Russian Telegram groups;
- through analysis of satellite images.
Only after all three methods have been evaluated can the mission be considered successful or not.
So, that night, at about three o’clock, messages about drones began to appear in Russian Telgram channels.
It is noted that:
- initial satellite images of the munitions composition at Kotluban showed that the attack allegedly only ignited grass in a field near the site and, at first glance, showed little evidence of serious explosions inside – obvious signs of a near miss;
- however, GUR shared video footage with CNN from the area where the warehouse is located. An intelligence source told CNN that their knowledge of the camera’s location, combined with its distance from Kotluban, led to the determination that the explosions inside the train were powerful;
- CNN was subsequently able to independently confirm through its sources that a direct hit had occurred. The photo, which has not been published to protect the anonymity of the source, showed a number of objects scattered around the building and the building itself being heavily damaged;
- A more recent satellite image from Maxar Technologies, also obtained by CNN, shows less debris nearby – evidence that the Russian military has cleared the site – but shows the same building, heavily damaged.
It is noted that the Ukrainian military assessed the mission to destroy Iranian missiles as completely successful.
Source: CNN
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I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.