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THIS is the unbelievable moment a Ukrainian aircraft-style drone smashes into Putin’s puppet Kadyrov’s special operations base.
The site, in the Russian city of Grozny, Chechnya, erupted into a gargantuan fireball in yet another devastating blow to mad Vlad.
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Several drones reportedly struck the special forces facilities, as well as a base where troops are sent directly from to fight in the illegal war against Ukraine.
Ukraine’s targeted attack appeared to hit the base of a special operations unit, renowned to be a key base for the Russian dictator’s warlord Kadyrov who has sent tens of thousands of troops to the war.
Footage shows the WW2-style plane flying increasingly low and at lightning speed.
It then dramatically smashes into the facilities – erupting into a ginormous ball of fire.
Smoke is then captured billowing from the blasted site.
Shooting was heard in attempts to down the pilotless plane loaded with explosives, but there appeared a lack of air defences against the slow-moving incoming drones.
It is the third strike on the city in 11 days.
The extent of damage and any toll was not immediately known.
Ukraine’s military have been consistently adapting and improving their aircraft and weaponry since Vlad launched his barbaric full-scale invasion in 2022.
The use of the WW2-style planes to hunt down Russian drones on the battlefield continue to serve a blow to Putin’s increasingly desperate war effort.
Air Marshal Bagwell, who served for 36 years in the RAF, said the fact that Ukraine is using a relatively slow propeller-driven plane to take out Putin’s 21st century drone is “embarrassing” for Vlad.
The former combat pilot, who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, told The Sun: “There should be some serious questions here for Russia.
“To have your highly sophisticated 21st century drone shot down by a 1970s prop aeroplane designed for training by somebody with a machine gun out the back – that’s embarrassing.
“This will be sending ripples of concern back into Russia.”
It came soon after Putin, 72, had awarded Kadyrov, 48, a ‘For Services to the Fatherland’ honour in an unannounced but secretly-filmed Kremlin ceremony.
Kadyrov – who holds the rank of colonel-general in the Russian national guard – had demanded better air defence protection for his capital.
Kadyrov has been widely sanctioned by the West for human rights abuses as well as his support to Putin over the war.
He previously threatened to place Ukrainian prisoners of war on rooftops of strategic buildings to discourage attacks by Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces.
A new investigation by Proekt independent media found that Kadyrov has tripled the size of what amounts to his own private army.
No less than nine new paramilitary units have been established since the start of the war.
No other regional leader in Russia is allowed to maintain their own private army.
The rise of drone warfare in Ukraine
DRONES have been deployed in the war in Ukraine on an unprecedented scale as thousands are used daily to hunt down enemy forces, guide artillery and bomb targets – transforming modern land warfare.
Ukraine has become increasingly reliant on first-person-view (FPV) drones — nimble, target-seeking, kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Since early 2023, the cheap, explosive, flying machines have become one of Kyiv’s biggest success stories after its military ran perilously short on munitions due to long-stalled Western weapon shipments.
The attack UAVs have come to define the conflict, helped by constant streams of footage filmed onboard as they tail troops, blast Russian positions or smash into tanks worth millions with ruthless precision.
The potent quadcopters cost around £300, are largely made from off-the-shelf pieces of kit and as demand soars, an army of civilians are helping to assemble them in their homes.
Some are fitted with grenades or homebuilt bombs, others are used for reconnaissance missions to identify enemy positions and guide artillery fire.
Now, almost every fighting brigade in Ukraine has an assault drone company.
With the 600-mile front frozen in hellish trench warfare, the success of FPVs on the battlefield is “undeniable”, according to the commander of Ukraine’s attack drone operations.
The senior special forces officer “Arsenal” told The Sun the quadcopters-turned-munitions now successfully blitz Putin’s targets in three out of five operations.
And as the war moves into what Arsenal calls a more “technological phase”, he argued FPVs are increasingly vital to Ukraine’s success.
He said: “If Mavic (surveillance) drones are our eyes – for the adjustment of artillery fire, withdrawal of groups to positions, reconnaissance – then FPV drones are our sword, our strike force.”
Over two thirds of Russian tanks destroyed by Ukraine so far in 2024 have been taken out using FPV drones, a Nato official told Foreign Policy.
Their long-range capabilities also save countless lives as the drone operator can be stationed away from the frontline.
And drones are not just used on the battlefield, both Ukraine and Russia are hitting targets hundreds of miles deep into enemy territory using long-range UAVs.
They are highly cost effective means to blitz factories making weapons, military bases or energy facilities.
And yet, in a constant game of cat and mouse, both sides are developing increasingly sophisticated means of stopping drones using electronic warfare.
In response, Russia and Ukraine are racing to develop UAVs guided by AI instead of GPS that can easily be jammed.
Ukraine is counting on key allies to help in this mission and to send them more expensive, high-tech drones, but deliveries are not anywhere near the sufficient scale needed.
In 2023, Ukraine’s goal was to procure 200,000 drones. For 2024, Zelensky vowed they would build a million themselves.
Between January and February this year, officials revealed FPV production already totaled 200,000.
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