MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/. Russia pounded the Ukrainian army’s positions in the Zaporozhye Region with a first-of-a-kind move using Lancet-3 kamikaze drones, a member of the chief council of the region’s military-civilian administration said on Monday.

There were previously no reports about the use of Lancet-3 loitering munitions in the Zaporozhye Region.

"Strikes were delivered against the militants of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky, using Russian-made Lancet-3 loitering munitions. This is a big step forward and this is a munition drone that flies accurately towards its target. Before that, we were terrorized only from that side. Now our army is responding to this challenge," Vladimir Rogov said in a live broadcast on the Soloviev.Live TV channel.

As Russia’s Rostec state tech corporation told TASS on June 8, Russian KUB and Lancet-3 suicide drones were actively employed in combat operations in Ukraine and "proved their worth in combat conditions." Drones were largely used to strike remote ground targets, it specified.

The KUB drone was engineered by Russia’s ZALA Aero (part of the Kalashnikov Group within Rostec). The drone carries a 3 kg warhead, has flight endurance of 30 minutes and can accelerate to 130 km/h. The KUB loitering munition successfully passed state tests in November 2021 and its mass deliveries to Russian troops are planned for 2022.

The Lancet drone manufactured by ZALA Aero is outfitted with several targeting systems based on coordinates, optoelectronics and combined technology. The drone is furnished with a television communication channel to transmit images of targets and confirm their successful destruction. The drone can strike targets within a range of 40 km and has a maximum take-off weight of 12 kg.