Ukrainian Drone Pilot 'Sets Record' With 12-Mile Hit on Russian Tank

A Ukrainian drone pilot has set a new "record" for striking a Russian tank nearly a dozen miles behind the front lines of fighting, according to a new report.

An unnamed Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operator "incapacitated a Russian tank" 18 kilometers, or just under 12 miles, from the current front line in a 22-kilometer (13.6 mile) strike, The Economist reported on Sunday.

Russian forces no longer allow Moscow's tanks within 10 kilometers, or 6 miles, of the front, the publication reported, citing a Ukrainian commander.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

The Ukraine war has seen an acceleration of drone technology development, with both Kyiv and Moscow funneling resources into the rapid production and improvement of UAVs.

Kyiv has built up its "army of drones," and its drone tsar—Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov—has said that the country is on the path to becoming "a world leader in drones production."

Among this vast cache of drones are first-person-view kamikaze drones, loitering munitions and reconnaissance drones. Ukraine goes through around 10,000 drones per month, the British think tank, the Royal United Services Institute, estimated earlier this year.

Yet the drones, and the counter-drone technology growing alongside them, remain a constant and abundant presence on the battlefield in the 20-month old war between Kyiv and Moscow.

Drones "are the super weapon here," Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, told Newsweek in February. The sentiment has held true in the many months of warfare since.

The economics of drones used for striking Russian assets clearly make sense; it is a significant win for Ukraine if a cheap, disposable or modified drone can take out a multimillion-dollar Russian main battle tank.

One Ukrainian drone operator told Reuters in May 2023 that commercial drones worth a handful of hundreds of dollars were destroying Russian tanks, heavy equipment, and killing Moscow's troops.

But Russia is also playing the rapid advancement of drone technology to its advantage, using the inexpensive Iranian-designed Shahed kamikaze drones to strike Ukraine's infrastructure.

And Russia is catching up to Ukraine's lead, experts previously told Newsweek. Moscow is also using drones to locate Kyiv's donated Leopard 2 tanks, something they are doing at an "accelerating rate," Forbes reported on Monday.

On Saturday, the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said the Kremlin is likely using a new version of the "Lancet" suicide drone against Kyiv's forces in the war-torn country.

The newer versions of these drones have an "automatic guidance system that can distinguish types of targets and increase strike success rates," the ISW said, citing Russian military bloggers.

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