The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become a success story: The Ukrainian defense ministry in recent days has shared footage showing attacks using UAVs made by Ukraine that were used against Russian soldiers near Bakhmut.
Ukrainian-made Vampire drones in action on Bakhmut direction. They hit Russian warehouse and armored combat vehicle. Despite the electronic warfare that tried to shoot them down, our birds returned home. Continue to develop drone production. More to come! pic.twitter.com/TTWl2sm7xI
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) August 21, 2023
The UAVs, which have been dubbed "Vampires", hit Russian weapons storage and armored vehicles and even succeeded in evading Moscow's electronic warfare, according to Ukraine's Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
Fedorov said earlier this month that "Ukraine is on its way to being a world leader in drone production," adding that "18 months of war caused a big change in the production of unmanned vehicles in Ukraine. In one year, the Ukrainian drone industry will develop different types of such a vehicle. Before the invasion, the Ukrainian industry focused mainly on patrol drones, and today the focus is on bombers."
The "Vampires" can carry a load of up to 15 kg and are mainly used to attack Russian military vehicles like armored vehicles and tanks as well as ammunition storage.
Fedorov explained that "every UAV is equipped with a thermal camera so that it's also effective at night. Soon you will see significant results from these tools."
How much damage have the Vampires caused?
On Monday, Fedorov even tweeted that the Ukrainian army succeeded in striking 33 Russian tanks, 43 armored vehicles, and 10 ammunition and fuel storage facilities thanks to the "Vampires".
Earlier on Wednesday, a Ukrainian drone attack hit the supersonic bomber of the Russian TU-22 flagship which took a big part in the massive drone attacks on Ukraine, according to Ukrainian media.