July 27, 2024: Personnel of the Ukrainian Security Service also handle propaganda of the accurate variety. They collect and make available combat videos on their web site for the general public and journalists. Most aerial and seagoing drones are equipped with video cameras so their operators can guide them to targets while also looking for and avoiding threats. Many of the drone videos are gruesome because they show Russian soldiers actually getting killed or wounded. In Ukraine, the majority of Russian soldiers killed or wounded are the work of armed drones. The Russians do not respond with similar attacks and still prefer to attack Ukrainian targets with relatively large bombs and missiles. The drones Ukrainians use for attacks on Russian infantry are usually reusable quadcopters. These are often standard commercial DJI models modified by the Ukrainian military to carry and deliver small amounts of explosives, equal to what would be used in a hand grenade. Dropped from above by a Ukrainian drone on individuals or small groups of Russian soldiers, the results are often fatal. Russian troops are horrified at this new development and, when they hear the sound of a DJI drone, they quickly seek shelter or concealment.

Drone attacks are unique as the Ukrainian drone operator can see his targets and the quadcopters are too small a target to reliably shoot down when it is stalking you. One macabre video showed a Russian soldier committing suicide using his assault rifle rather be hunted down and killed by the armed and all-seeing drone that was stalking him. For Russian soldiers, the major source of combat deaths is from these drone attacks. Soldiers are warned by veterans to be watchful for these drones and, if any are detected, to immediately take shelter where the murderous drone can’t find and kill you. The drones are also a threat to armored vehicles because they can, at no risk to the lives of their Ukrainian operators, drop explosives down an open hatch or onto the relatively unprotected engine compartment.

Russia responded with electronic jammers to disrupt the control signal between the Ukrainian operator and the drone. The Ukrainians quickly adapted to that by adding a home on jammer capability to their drones as well as equipping some with the decades old fire and forget capability some missiles still used. Missile operators use fire and forget by getting the target in the target viewer and then launch the missile. The missile is homing on an image of the target and, even if the target vehicle moves, the missile will change course and home in before detonating. The tank crew often does not realize they have been targeted by a fire and forget missile. The few tank crewmen that survive such an attack never forget the experience.

Armed drones continue to be a major threat at sea where Ukrainian USV (Unmanned Surface Vessel) drones sank or damaged over a third of the Black Sea Fleet and forced the remaining ships to take shelter in nearby ports like Sevastopol or more distant ones like Novorossiysk. The USVs are still attacking Russian ships in these ports. The Russians have developed countermeasures to these attacks, but not enough to prevent persistent Ukrainian attacks from damaging or destroying Russian warships and support facilities, like drydocks and equipment sheds. Whenever the Russians come up with some way to defeat these attacks, the Ukrainians develop another attack technique.

These techniques and tactics have become a major problem for the Chinese Navy and its plans to attack and capture Taiwan. The U.S. Navy has announced that they have adopted Ukrainian naval combat tactics using USVs. Since the United States is a major supporter of Ukraine and has already provided over a hundred billion dollars in military aid, the Ukrainians are eager to share their new drone manufacturing methods and tactics on how to use them. The American military recently announced that they and the Taiwanese are building over a thousand of these USVs to use against any Chinese attempt to attack and capture Taiwan. The Chinese are not pleased because Chinese military officials have heard vivid descriptions of what Ukrainian USVs did to the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Because so many USVs are equipped with video cameras, there is a lot of video evidence of how this works and any admiral viewing these videos can easily imagine what these devilish USVs could do to their ships.