Mysterious “Baba Yaga” drones near Avdiivka. They are the Russians’ nightmare

This happens because Ukrainian specialists and pilots of strictly military drones, such as, among others, Polish FlyEye successfully searches for and eliminates, using artillery, Russian electronic warfare systems of the R-330Ż Zhytiel type, which prevent the use of much larger commercial drones.

This means that while FPV drones are no longer effective, a bombing drone that drops anti-tank bomblets, PG-7VL grenades capable of burning through 500 mm of armored steel, TM-62 mines or mortar shells from 100/200 meters away is deadly. threat as long as the pilot hits the target.

Such large drones with a lifting capacity of about 20 kg flying at a ceiling of 200 – 400 meters, dubbed “Baba Yaga”, now pose the main threat. Attacks at night are particularly dangerous, for example those based on commercial DJI Matrice RTK 300 drones equipped with a thermal imaging camera, mass-acquired as part of the “Drone Army” initiative.

In addition, “Baba Yaga” drones will also use Starlink terminals, making them much more resistant to interference and having a range of up to 20-30 km at a low altitude. In addition to bombing, “Baba Yaga” drones also serve as flying signal amplifiers for other smaller drones.

Ukrainians often attack with smaller drones from a different direction to distract the Russians from the incoming “Baba Yaga” carrying a much larger payload than a few grenades.