Yeah, it’s essentially like instant minefields.
Some capabilites of the sea drones are reported.
Based on the trailer, it looks about the size of a nice bass boat with a covered deck.
Those look similar to the drone boats we saw pictures of back in October of 22:
I think this is an example of the stress Russian air frames are under. Maybe the sanctions are taking their eventual toll. An engine literally fell off mid flight! (edit: Russia claims it was a bird strike)
Also, looks like the Russian troops fighting for Ukraine have crossed the border again.
They are apparently planning to hold a referundum on exiting the Russian Federation in one of the captured towns. Fantastic trolling.
Interesting. Do you have a cite, in keeping with “breaking news”?
My only cite is some Twitter report, with this picture being spread fairly widely, hence me using the word “apparently”. However I don’t speak Russian so I’m sorry as far as I know this says “do you like marshmallows?”
Perhaps not something for a breaking news thread after all. Either way it’s just a stunt, or perhaps a way to garner some popular support and get a bit of momentum behind some local resistance. Russia may have to divert a tiny fraction of their forces to sort things out.
This sort of thing can certainly undermine Putin’s narrative that he enjoys popular support, right before the Russian “election”.
Google Lens translated it like so:
Of course, the whole thing could be totally fabricated for all I know.
Thanks I was looking for a translation. Yes please note this has not been verified by any reputable source so far.
Google Lens is pretty impressive. It looks like the word at the top should probably be translated as “Bulletin” (and that’s the actual transliteration), but I guess “newsletter” is the more common use and it picked the wrong word in this case.
Creative bookkeeping to the rescue.
Continued evolution of small cheap drones as weapons of war: Ukraine is strapping the Soviet clone of the US Claymore mine underneath their FPV drones and using them as precision command-detonated shrapnel bombs.
I wonder if they could add a laser-level kind of device to that, to help them line up the long axis of the blast area with trenchlines and whatnot.
I can’t decide if an IR laser that the Russians can’t see, or a red laser that they can see would be better, but the red laser would definitely produce better videos.
The person flying the drone knows how the mine is oriented versus the line of sight in the camera. This is explosive weaponry; you don’t need to align with the trench to +/- 1 degree to be effective. Eyeballing it will be fine.
I suspect a Claymore-equivalent will also be highly effective against aircraft parked in the open. All the more so if you can get close. The results at e.g. 20’ will be much more impressive than those at e.g. 60’.
The modern battlefield keeps becoming more and more lethal. The Russian-Ukrainian war has seen some terrifying uses of drones in only 2 years.
No one expected to see drones sinking large ships. Or flying land mines dropped on troops. It is making a difference in allowing Ukraine to survive this war.
I really hope that this turns out to be off-topic: Moscow attack latest: At least 40 dead at concert hall, says Russian intelligence service - BBC News
“At least 40 people have been killed after gunmen attacked a packed concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow, Russian intelligence said.
A large fire has engulfed the roof of the complex and Russian special forces have been deployed to the scene”
…but it feels so similar to this: 1999 Russian apartment bombings - Wikipedia
" In September 1999, a series of explosions hit four apartment blocks in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow, and Volgodonsk, killing more than 300, injuring more than 1,000, and spreading a wave of fear across the country. The bombings, together with the Invasion of Dagestan, triggered the Second Chechen War. The handling of the crisis by Vladimir Putin, who was prime minister at the time, boosted his popularity greatly and helped him attain the presidency within a few months."
…that I can’t help thinking this is a KGB operation meant to have a “rally around the flag” effect.
By coincidence (MSN)
a Kremlin spokesperson admitted on Friday that “we are in a state of war,”
Putin won the “elections”, Russian economy is gearing for war production for a while already, Russians were informed they’re at war, gloves are off. By the end of the year we’ll likely see a massive (if not mass) mobilization in Russia; I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ll attack again along the recognized border and go for Kharkhiv and Sumy.
I was assuming it was an internal Russian group at first, but it seems Islamic State may be claiming responsibility.
So now putin has to divert military assets to fight Isis.