Ukrainian engineers design DIY rocket families can build in their back gardens to fight Russia
Ukrainian engineers have designed a DIY missile that families can build in their backyards to fight against Russian invaders.
Also referred to as the “people’s rocket,” the Trembita uses the same technology as the German V1 flying bombs, or Doodlebugs, used in World War II.
Towards the end of World War II, some 5,000 V1 missiles, the world’s first cruise missile, were launched by the Germans to bomb London, causing massive loss of life.
The anti-Russian Vidsich protest group has designed the “garage-made” missile that, while it won’t be as accurate as laser-guided missiles, should be able to travel about 90 miles from launch.
It can carry up to 20 kg of explosives and produce a thermal signal that would try to hit Russian air defenses, wasting expensive ammunition.
The Ukrainian-designed DIY rocket, dubbed Trembita, also known as the “people’s rocket,” uses the same technology as the German V1s used in World War II. Pictured: An unexploded German V1 rocket or buzzer bomb, fired at Britain after D-Day
The group told The Telegraph: ‘Our simple missile is incomparably cheaper than the shots from enemy anti-aircraft missile systems.’
It comes as saboteurs yesterday derailed a Russian freight train and destroyed power lines with explosives in a double blow to Vladimir Putin.
The train, which was carrying oil and construction materials, burst into flames after an explosion on the tracks in the Bryansk region, 60 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Video taken shortly after the attack showed several destroyed carriages ablaze and lying on their sides, with dark gray smoke billowing into the sky.
Local governor Alexander Bogomaz said the explosive detonated “on the 136th kilometer” of the railway between Bryansk and the city of Unecha – a route used for transporting Moscow’s military supplies.
The sabotage attacks came as Kiev prepares for a widely anticipated counter-offensive this spring, with Ukraine building up its mechanized brigades with armor supplied by its Western allies.
A Russian freight train derailed and burst into flames today after an explosive device exploded on the track just 60 kilometers from the Ukrainian border
The train, carrying Russian tanks, was targeted in Russia’s Bryansk region, local governor Alexander Bogomaz said, adding there were no casualties.
Video shows several wrecked oil tanker wagons on fire and lying on their sides after the blast, with dark gray smoke billowing into the sky
Separately, the governor of Russia’s Leningrad region near St. Petersburg said a power line was blown up overnight and an explosive device was found near a second line.
Russian Railways, the country’s railway company, said the attack on the freight train took place at 10:17 Moscow time (07:17 GMT).
It said the locomotive and seven freight cars had derailed and the locomotive caught fire.
Meanwhile, the White House said on Monday that Russia has claimed 100,000 casualties over the past five months, with more than 20,000 dead during the protracted conflict in Ukraine.
It reflects how Moscow’s hopes for a quick victory gave way to a relentless war of attrition that came at a huge cost.
Combined with earlier estimates by other US officials, the total number of Russian casualties since last year’s invasion of Moscow could reach 200,000.
White House security spokesman John Kirby said Russia’s attempt at an offensive in the eastern Donbas region, through the city of Bakhmut, had largely failed.
Police are seen at the scene of a residential area hit by a Russian military strike, amid the Russian assault on Ukraine, in the town of Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk region
White House security spokesman John Kirby said Russia’s attempt at an offensive in the eastern Donbas region, through the city of Bakhmut, had largely failed.
“For Russia, this effort, especially in Bakhmut, has come at a terribly, terribly high cost,” he told reporters.
“Russia has exhausted its military supplies and its armed forces and since December alone … we estimate that Russia has suffered more than 100,000 casualties, including more than 20,000 killed in action, nearly half of whom were Wagner soldiers, the majority of whom were Russian were convicts thrown into battle… [without] adequate combat training, combat leadership, or some sense of organizational command and control.”
He said the information was based on newly released intelligence, but gave no further details.