Ukrainian forces have claimed another string of successes in their ongoing fight against the Russian invaders, as drone pilots from the Eyes and Sting unit repeatedly struck Russian Grad rocket launchers, Osa anti aircraft batteries, self propelled guns and armoured vehicles. Video footage released on 23 May shows how small unmanned aerial vehicles picked off targets that Russian forces believed safe under cover of trees or in makeshift shelters.
According to the pilot commentary, enemy crews attempted to withdraw a Grad multiple rocket launcher under the cover of dawn. As the vehicle trundled towards what they thought was a secure zone, an Eyes and Sting drone swooped in from above. The launcher erupted in flame within seconds of being struck. In one clip, a Russian truck towing a Grad launcher catches fire and overturns, trapping the crew before the drone’s powerful strike.
The unit’s operators say their optical fibre guided drones suffer no signal loss, even under intense Russian jamming efforts. With real time high definition imagery, pilots identify the faint glow of an engine or the outline of munitions and then guide a precision charge to its mark. On several occasions they obliterated self propelled guns as the crews tried to reposition, while other footage captures armoured personnel carriers exploding after direct hits.
Amid the relentless drone strikes, Russian state news agency TASS continued its well known habit of spinning false narratives. Even as footage circulated showing the destruction of Russian equipment, TASS claimed that Ukraine had suffered heavy losses and that a celebrated brigade of Ukrainian troops had been wiped out in Donetsk region. Ukrainian commanders dismissed these reports as laughable propaganda from an agency wholly complicit in the Russian dictator’s disinformation campaign.
Between drone sorties, pilots watch live feeds of trenches and supply lines, waiting for targets of opportunity. They report that in the first 22 days of May their unit engaged over 4,400 enemy positions, with drone strikes accounting for 1,661 confirmed destructions – almost 38 per cent of all targets hit. That means an average of more than 75 strikes a day, with a target of 100 daily attacks set for the coming month.
Analysts note that while artillery and air power remain crucial, drone warfare is reshaping the battlefield. Small, cheap and hard to detect, these unmanned vehicles allow Ukraine to neutralise Russian heavy weapons at a fraction of the cost. A single drone mission typically costs under £2,300 (€2,700), yet can destroy assets worth hundreds of thousands of pounds in hardware and ammunition.
Despite these successes, commanders warn that no front is secure. Russian forces continue to deploy new batteries and try to adapt. Ukrainian units are already developing swarming tactics and countermeasures to outmanoeuvre the enemy’s air defences. For now, however, it is the Eyes and Sting pilots who seem to hold the upper hand.
Amid the noise of exploding shells and crackling radios, one drone pilot quips, “We are not on TikTok and we hold no public rallies. We let our strike footage do the talking.”
