Video gives rare 3rd-person view of makeshift Ukraine war drone blowing up a target
- Video from Ukraine shows a small drone attack filmed by another drone nearby.
- It comes from the Aerorozvidka volunteer group of operators who work with Ukraine's military.
A group of Ukrainian drone operators released unusual footage of a hit on a target, filmed from the air by another drone.
The footage differs from the more common viewpoints filmed by the attacking drone.
The operators are from Aerorozvidka, a group of volunteer IT experts who build and modify drones to fight against the Russian invasion.
Formed in 2014 as a nonprofit in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea, they work in concert with Ukraine's military for both reconnaissance and attack.
Footage uploaded to the group's Telegram channel on Monday gives a rare glimpse of one of its machines — an eight-rotor drone — from the air.
In Monday's video, the airborne camera followed what appeared to be the team's custom-built R-18 octocopter, which has a 4-kilometer range (roughly 2 ½ miles), can fly for 40 minutes, and can drop 5 kg bombs.
The drone set out across the countryside — the group didn't disclose the exact location — passing over several fields before nearing its target, at which point it dropped altitude.
The target, a vehicle Insider couldn't independently identify, was at the edge of a field.
After approaching, the drone repositioned itself and dropped two items without causing a noticeable explosion. A third drop appeared to make contact, causing a visible blast.
The footage is inverted black-and-white, seemingly taken after dark.
The team told Insider most of its missions were undertaken at night, where the low visibility provides an advantage.
The group says it carries out hundreds of missions daily, flying about 20 hours a day. Among its achievements, the group says it was instrumental in halting the famed 40-mile-long convoy that attempted to reach the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in the first weeks of the war.
As the war continued, Russian forces adapted their tactics, making it more difficult for Ukraine to conduct its defensive drone warfare even with the much-celebrated Turkish TB-2 Bayraktar drones.