Nighttime footage shows a fire-breathing Ukrainian drone setting Russian positions ablaze
Footage appears to show the drone raining fire on a treeline at night.
A Ukrainian battalion shared nighttime footage of one of its “dragon drones” breathing fire on a Russian position in Ukraine, setting a line of trees ablaze.
In the footage, shared on Telegram on Sunday by the 205th battalion of the Territorial Defense Forces, a bright, glowing light is seen moving in the dark over a long treeline, dropping fire as it goes.
Underneath, patches of flames spring up.
Nighttime footage of a Ukrainian dragon drone covering a Russian-held treeline with molten thermite, setting multiple Russian positions ablaze. pic.twitter.com/sd47vTF0jJ
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) September 24, 2024
The battalion, which didn’t disclose the location of the video, said it was a joint effort with the 241st TDF battalion and the 92nd Assault Brigade against Russian “Orcs.”
The footage most likely shows a drone dropping thermite, a deadly mixture of aluminum powder and iron oxide that, when ignited, can burn at temperatures of up to 4,000 degrees.
The UAVs have earned the nickname “dragon drones.”
A second video, posted by the popular X account @Osinttechnical, purports to show a view of the aftermath of the attack from the Ukrainian operations room.
In the footage, both thermal imaging and normal screens show the scale of the attack.
Source- https://t.co/0hUnohJCdm
The aftermath: pic.twitter.com/s29qVIqDPG
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) September 24, 2024
Ukraine appears to have deployed the dragon-drone tactic in multiple locations since early September.
Deutsche Welle reported that open-source researchers had spotted its use in Zaporizhzhia, in Ukraine’s southeast, and eastern Donetsk, as well as at least once in Kursk, in western Russia.
But news reports suggest Russia may also have produced its own version of the “dragon drone,” DW reported.
Ukraine’s operational goals with the tactic are still unclear, but it’s considered highly effective at two main things: causing severe burns and unleashing terror among enemy troops.
James Patton Rogers, a drone expert who’s the executive director of the Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute, told B-17 this month that the tactic could force a retreat.
“The ubiquitous use of drones in the skies above the battlefield are terrifying enough, but those below now have to contend with the quite literal threat of molten metal and fire raining down from above,” he said.
Despite this, Patton Rogers suggested the “actual strategic impact of the ‘dragons’ will be minimal.”
The recent videos have caused alarm among some human-rights campaigners, including the group Action on Armed Violence, which recently wrote about fears that the substance’s use could spread to civilian areas.
Thermite is permitted for use on enemy troops but its use on civilian targets is banned.
