The key facts

  • According to the commander with the call sign 'Zmey', Ukrainian forces leave functional drones with microphones as 'malfunctioning' equipment for audio reconnaissance
  • After his test movement near the drone, a 'Baba Yaga' and two or three kamikaze drones arrived in the area
  • On the night of November 8, the Defense Ministry reported a strike on a 330 kV substation near Beloshitsy in Zhytomyr region

Drones as 'eavesdropping' devices

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have begun using kamikaze drones not only for attacks but also as a means of audio reconnaissance. This was told to TASS by a company commander of the 89th Tank Regiment of the 6th Motorized Rifle Division of the 3rd Army Corps of the Southern Group of Forces with the call sign 'Zmey' (Serpent); his words are cited by Gazeta.Ru.

How the tactic works

According to the commander's description, Ukrainian troops deliberately leave functional drones with microphones switched on on the ground, creating the appearance of malfunctioning equipment. Such devices record the sounds of footsteps and make it possible to determine people's whereabouts. 'Zmey' said that during a check he deliberately imitated movement near an abandoned drone while keeping his distance from it. After that, a heavy drone of the 'Baba Yaga' type and two or three kamikaze drones headed for the area where the drone with the microphone was located.

Strikes on the energy sector in the same report

The same report also mentions events of the previous day: on the night of November 8, according to the military department, Russian drones struck a 330 kV electrical substation near the village of Beloshitsy in Zhytomyr region, which, it is claimed, supplied electricity to Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises. It is also noted that earlier Kyiv was plunged into darkness after strikes on the energy sector. The information about the strike and the audio reconnaissance tactic comes from a single source and is not corroborated by independent publications in the roundup.