MELITOPOL, November 21. /TASS/. The Russia-Donbass allied forces shot down four kamikaze drones presumably of Ukrainian manufacture near Melitopol in the Zaporozhye Region that Ukraine’s military used for the first time, Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the We Are Together with Russia movement, told TASS on Monday.
"On Sunday morning, an attempt was made [by the Ukrainian military] to deliver a strike by a swarm of kamikaze drones. These are new drones that we have not come across yet and they more look like some improvised Ukrainian production based on American and Japanese components," he said.
The drones carried about 2 kg of explosives each with striking elements, Rogov said.
"They clearly flew to intimidate Melitopol residents because they traveled under a GPS signal at ultralow altitudes of no more than 60 meters. They flew at about 60 km/h and this is really a low speed. In the opinion of specialists, they flew from the city of Zaporochye [controlled by the Ukrainian military], having covered a distance of a hundred kilometers. There were four drones in a group and we shot them down. We obtained one drone in good condition for examination," the regional official said.
This drone attack suggests that Ukraine is trying to develop an analog of the Russian Geran-2 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Rogov said.
"Looking at the components, the engine and the controls, it can be said that the [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky regime is looking for options similar to Geran UAVs. All the elements in the drone are quite cheap and simple, which, of course, causes concern. Considering the support from the Americans and the Japanese, the Zelensky regime can be heavily supplied with these components and then they can intimidate precisely peaceful towns and cities quite strongly," he said.