LUGANSK, June 6. /TASS/. Ukrainian troops positioned in the Lugansk area have begun to increasingly employ various modifications of drones, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with an operational range of over 300 km, Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) people’s militia retired Lieutenant-Colonel Andrey Marochko told TASS on Tuesday.

"In the area under purview of the [Russian] southern battlegroup, the enemy is observed to employ drones of various types and designation in the Lugansk tactical direction. Ukrainian armed formations have begun to use more intensively drones to conduct reconnaissance, adjust fire and drop explosives," the LPR officer said.

The Ukrainian military is using aircraft-type drones, and also quadcopters and hexacopters, Marochko said.

"Pursuant to their performance characteristics, the operational range of drones varies from 1.5 km to over 300 km," he said.

The LPR officer earlier told TASS that Ukrainian troops had increased the number of NATO-standard artillery systems in the Lugansk area.