Russia Suffers $900M Military Loss From Ukraine's Secret Weapon: Report

Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian military charity, on Thursday revealed details for the first time about a secretive armed forces project known as "Black Box," which it said has inflicted more than $900 million worth of damage to Russia's military.

In its announcement, Come Back Alive said a long-range attack drone called the "Beaver" was part of the project, but noted the drone was only one "component" of the operation.

Ukraine's military intelligence directorate (GUR) collaborated with the Come Back Alive fund and Ukrainian blogger Ihor Lachenkov on Black Box. The project has been shrouded in mystery since Ukrainian officials first started mentioning fundraising efforts for it in late 2022.

This summer, announcements were made by military officials about Black Box being behind strikes on Russian military bases and infrastructure, including an explosion at the Crimea bridge. In June, Ukrainian military chief Kyrylo Budanov said Black Box had already caused more than $700 million in damage to Russia's military in a month's time.

The Beaver has "successfully completed tasks in Crimea, in the immediately occupied territories of Ukraine and, of course, 'flew' into military targets on enemy territory," Come Back Alive wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense via email on Friday for comment.

The long-range Beaver unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) reportedly has a range of around 500 miles, and it has been used to strike a Russian storage facility where components for Iskander ballistic missile systems were kept. Come Back Alive also wrote the Beaver was put to work in a strike on a plant that produced electronics for Kh-31, Kh-35 and Kh-59 missiles, which are launched from tactical aircraft.

Reports about the presence of Beaver drones in strikes have been building in recent months, though the manufacturer of the weapons had been unknown. GUR also had only been rumored to have been involved in the drones' production before Thursday's announcement.

Military analysts have also speculated Beavers were behind a July attack on Moscow.

Justin Bronk, senior research fellow with the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank, told Newsweek at that time that Beavers were similar in make to the Iranian-made Shahed drones Russia has used throughout the conflict.

In an August article about rumors of the mysterious drones, the Kyiv Post wrote that "experts suggest deploying Beaver drones in substantial numbers to enhance their ability to penetrate enemy air defenses and counter electronic warfare measures through saturation."

The Come Back Alive X post added that around $395,778 raised for Black Box would be used to buy vehicles for Ukrainian soldiers.

"Transport will increase the mobility of special forces and allow them to more effectively 'get' the occupiers in Crimea, in the temporarily occupied territories and on the other side of the border," the charity group wrote.

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