Ukraine’s newest weapon: Troops use remote-control ‘kamikaze’ cars

Footage has emerged of Ukrainian troops using remote-controlled ‘kamikaze’ cars loaded with explosives to wipe out Russian tanks.

The fighting is mainly taking place in the easternmost regions of Ukraine, where the city of Bakhmut is embroiled in fierce conflict.

Some Ukrainian soldiers at the front are now using remote-controlled cars loaded with explosives, known as unmanned ground vehicles, to hit Russian targets, according to a video shared on social media this weekend.

The video, first posted as part of a YouTube documentary about the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, appears to show Ukrainian soldiers preparing a remote-controlled vehicle for battle before sending it off.

The soldiers are then seen controlling the vehicle’s movement on a phone so that it explodes near what appears to be a Russian tank.

The soldiers are seen controlling the vehicle’s movement on a phone and directing it to explode near what appears to be a Russian tank.

A video of the documentary was posted to Twitter this weekend, where it has been viewed more than 400,000 times.

“Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade is using kamikaze UGVs loaded with explosives on Russian positions,” tweeted Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

The use of these UGVs was also covered in the pro-Russian Telegram channel Reports of the militias of Novorossiya ZOV, which stated that the weapons “could be dangerous to armored vehicles, dugouts and personnel.”

More information on the extent of the use of the remote-controlled vehicles, including how much Ukraine holds and how often soldiers use this type of weapon, has not been released by the Ukrainian military.

The Third Separate Assault Brigade was formed last year from the Azov regiment. His soldiers have fought in the battle to take Bakhmut, which is engaged in exhausting warfare.

Russia also used UGVs during the war, including their ‘Marker’ vehicles, four of which were sent to eastern Ukraine in January.

Ukraine said on Tuesday that Russian cruise missiles were destroyed in a blast on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, but denied responsibility for the “mysterious” incident.

“An explosion in the town of Dzhankoi in the north of temporarily occupied Crimea destroyed Russian Kalibr-NK cruise missiles as they were being transported by rail,” Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said in a statement posted on social media.

Russian investigators had previously said air defense systems repelled a drone attack on Dzhankoi and debris from the incident damaged a shop and house and left one person injured.

“The targets of all downed drones were civilian objects,” the Commission of Inquiry added in its statement.

Dzhankoi is a logistics hub on the border between Russian-controlled Crimea and southern Ukraine, which came under the control of Russian forces after they invaded last February.

Some Ukrainian frontline soldiers are now using remote-controlled cars loaded with explosives, known as unmanned ground vehicles, to hit Russian targets, according to a video shared on social media this weekend

“Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade is using explosive-packed kamikaze UGVs on Russian positions,” tweeted Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

Soldiers in the video operate the remote control vehicle using a device before taking shelter in the trenches

Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Russian-installed head of Crimea, said the attack was apparently “revenge” for the annexation, days after Moscow celebrated the ninth anniversary of its takeover of the region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Crimea this weekend, his first visit to the peninsula since sending troops to Ukraine on February 24 last year.