Russian forces utilize wooden drones to locate Ukrainian defenses

Russian armed forces increasingly use rarely-seen equipment – drones built from wooden plywood and styrofoam. These tools are intended to help the aggressor's army locate the positions of Ukrainian air defence systems.

For several weeks, the Russian Federation has been regularly attacking Ukrainian positions using previously unknown drones. In just the past few days, social media has reported two incidents where Ukrainians shot down Russian weapons but could not identify them because they had seen them for the first time.

As Andrii Czerniak, a representative of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate, told Reuters, the Russians have new drones that they are using to conduct military operations over Ukraine. Their latest equipment is made of styrofoam and plywood and includes a camera and a Ukrainian SIM card, which allows them to transmit images from the battlefield to Russia.

According to the Defense Romania portal, although the wooden drones of the Russian Federation's army are essentially straightforward targets, they pose a significant financial challenge for Ukraine, as destroying the drones with missiles is very costly.

The plywood drones used by the Russians do not carry explosive charges. They are used for precise surveys of Ukrainian positions and, most importantly, for detecting the opponent's air defense systems. For this task, they use a camera installed on the fuselage of unknown quality and a Ukrainian SIM card, the latter of which is a very strategic element.

Using the Ukrainian network allows the Russian Federation to obtain the best possible coverage throughout Ukraine and, most importantly, not raise suspicions and alarms. These would undoubtedly occur if Russian SIM cards were used.

Defense Romania notes that with the emergence of new types of drones in Ukraine, "Russia is refining its tactics and experimenting with new technologies." Wooden drones appeared in Russia last year, but now they are being improved and used more frequently. This enables the Russian Federation to gain an advantage during missile attacks (due to the ability to identify the locations of air defense systems) and drone attacks on Ukrainian positions.

It is worth noting that Ukrainians do not leave these Russian behaviors unanswered, as evidenced by the recently conducted record-breaking strike towards the Olenya airbase located about 1,100 miles from Ukraine, hitting one of the most valuable bombers for the Russian Federation, the Tu-22M3.