REPORTS ARE SWIRLING UKRAINE USED CARDBOARD KAMIKAZE DRONES TO ATTACK A RUSSIAN AIRFIELD. BUT DID IT REALLY HAPPEN?
HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW.
ON AUGUST 27TH, THE KYIV POST QUOTED AN ANONYMOUS SOURCE IN THE SECURITY SERVICES OF UKRAINE. THE SOURCE SAID UKRAINE USED KAMIKAZE DRONES FROM AUSTRALIA TO ATTACK THE KURSK AIRBASE. FOUR SU-30 FIGHTER JETS, A MIG-29, AND TWO PANTSIR AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS WERE REPORTEDLY DESTROYED, ALONG WITH THE RADAR SYSTEM TO AN S-300 MISSILE LAUNCHER.
A POPULAR-PRO-RUSSIAN MILITARY BLOGGER KNOWN AS FIGHTER BOMBER SAID UKRAINE USED A SWARM OF LIGHT-WEIGHT CARDBOARD DRONES IN THE ATTACK–NOTING SOME HAD WARHEADS AND SOME DID NOT.
THE DRONES ARE OFFICIALLY CALLED THE CORVO PRECISION PAYLOAD DELIVERY SYSTEM, OR PPDS. THE PPDS COMES FLAT-BOXED, DESIGNED TO BE QUICKLY ASSEMBLED IN THE FIELD AND LAUNCHED. THEY’RE MADE MOSTLY OF A WAXED, CARDBOARD-LIKE MATERIAL, MEANING THEY ARE EXTREMELY HARD TO SPOT ON RADAR. THE PPDS HAS A MAXIMUM RANGE OF 120 KILOMETERS, SO IF THE ATTACK ON THE KURSK AIRFIELD INVOLVED A SWARM OF PPDS DRONES, THEY WERE LIKELY LAUNCHED FROM INSIDE RUSSIA.
UKRAINE IS LAUNCHING MORE ATTACKS INSIDE RUSSIAN TERRITORY. AND THE RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE DID ACKNOWLEDGE A UKRAINIAN ATTACK IN KURSK. THE RUSSIAN MOD ALSO TRIES TO DOWNPLAY ITS LOSSES AND WOULDN’T BE QUICK TO REPORT A BUNCH OF CARDBOARD DRONES TOOK OUT MULTIPLE PIECES OF EQUIPMENT THAT COST MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
HOWEVER, SATELLITE IMAGERY FROM THE DAY AFTER THE ALLEGED ATTACK SHOWS NO SIGNS OF DAMAGE AT THE KURSK AIRFIELD. FIGHTER JETS AND HELICOPTERS CAN BE OBSERVED OUT IN THE OPEN, NOT WHAT YOU’D TYPICALLY EXPECT TO SEE AFTER MULTIPLE CRAFT WERE SUPPOSEDLY DESTROYED THE DAY BEFORE.
MANY IN WESTERN MEDIA CONTINUE TO REPORT THE KURSK AIRFIELD ATTACK AS FACT, EVEN IF THE ASSERTION IS BASED ON THE REPORT OF ONE ANONYMOUS SOURCE. THE LACK OF EVIDENCE OF A MAJOR ATTACK AT THE AIRFIELD, THOUGH, CAN’T BE IGNORED. IN FACT, IT MAY INDICATE THE UKRAINIAN SBU IS TAKING A PAGE FROM ITS SOVIET PREDECESSOR AND PRACTICING ITS PROPAGANDA SKILLS.
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