Video Shows Russia Defenses Failing as Drones Fly Right Past Them

A video recently posted online shows Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs] gliding over nets set up by Russia's armed forces in an attempt to thwart drone strikes.

The footage was recorded by Escadrone, a non-profit group that manufactures attack drones for Ukraine, and posted on its Telegram channel. WarTranslated, an independent media project that translates materials about the war into English, shared Escadrone's video on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.

The Escadrone clip was reportedly made in Bakhmut, a settlement in the Donetsk region of Ukraine that has long been a focal point of the war. Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces, with the help of Wagner Group mercenaries, claimed control of Bakhmut earlier this year. However, Kyiv has seemingly made recapturing Bakhmut a goal in its ongoing counteroffensive, and recent reports have indicated Ukrainian forces have made gains in efforts to close in on the city.

"Slam dunking a Russian vehicle in Bakhmut. Russians recently began deploying cope nets at important roads to stop FPV [First-Person View] drones from hitting them. As evidenced from the video, this did not help," WarTranslated wrote in the caption of its X post.

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

Guy McCardle, managing editor of Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP), told Newsweek that "nets can be a good, effective way of stopping smaller drones and keeping them from reaching their targets."

"If positioned correctly and the drone is small enough, the net will ensnare the incoming drone, rendering it harmless," McCardle said. "The trouble is, some drones are smart enough to avoid such obstacles and FPV drones are being guided by a human who an steer his/her drone out of harm's way."

Other videos and photographs have also emerged in recent days to report on the large camouflage nets being strung up between lamp-posts by Russia's military in positions susceptible to drone attacks.

Samuel Bendett, an adviser at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), posted a video on X showing the counter-drone netting set up around Bakhmut.

As evidenced by Escadrone's video, though, the nets did little to deter Kyiv's combat drones, which simply flew around the hanging materials.

The Escadrone clip also highlights the emergence of First-Person View (FPV) drones, which are adapted from racing drones. These types of UAVs are controlled by an operator wearing a headset, and numerous videos from the Ukraine war show the weapons being used for strikes on Russian tanks and trenches.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense posted a video on its X account on Sunday that highlights the maneuverability of FPV drones. In the clip, an FPV crisscrosses through a forest before striking a Russian dugout. The video then cuts to an aerial view that shows the smoky aftermath of the attack.

"The best delivery service ever. FPV drones of the joint tactical group 'Adam' deliver gifts to the occupiers directly to their dugouts," the ministry's caption on the X post read.