The Ukrainian Air Force carried out two drone strikes on Russian targets using Turkish-made drones.
Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, head of the Ukrainian Air Force, confirmed that they were using the Bayraktar TB2 drone. The Ukrainian embassy released footage of the Russian convoy showing dozens of vehicles blown to pieces in the attack.
Quoted from the Daily Mail, the footage was taken near the town of Malyn, about 60 miles northwest of Kyiv. The Air Force said that one of the attacks took place in the city of Chornobaivka, in southern Ukraine.
The area has been the focus of intense fighting in recent days. On Saturday (26/2), Ukrainian forces released another drone video showing a Russian convoy hit by a drone strike, this time in the southern city of Kherson.
The first shipments of Turkish-made drones began arriving in Ukraine in 2019, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Bayraktar TB2 is capable of staying in the air for 25 hours at an altitude of 25,000 feet with the pilot able to control it from several hundred miles away.
Unmanned drone technology worth USD 5 million per unit is quite sophisticated and a pride for Turkey, where quite a lot of countries are interested and ordered it.
"Bayraktar TB2 has successfully completed 420,000 flight hours and the purchase has been agreed with 16 countries," said Haluk Bayraktar as CEO of the company Baykar as the maker recently.
Flying for the first time in 2014, the Bayraktar TB2 is getting more and more capable. It can carry weapons of up to 150 kilograms and launch attacks on opposing tanks or bunkers.
This drone is 6.5 meters long and has a wingspan of 12 meters. In addition to attacking the enemy, Bayraktar TB2 can also be used for reconnaissance missions from the air. It can fly for 24 hours at a maximum altitude of 7,300 meters both during the day and at night.
The Turkish military itself has often used Bayraktar TB2, among other things, to help them fight the militants in their country. This drone was also reported to have had great success when it destroyed 73 war vehicles in Syria.
Ukrainian troops have managed to stop Russian troops advancing on the capital. They blew up the bridge leading into the city to prevent the Moscow army from advancing. Russian troops were crushed Sunday afternoon in Bucha, near the Gostomel air base in northwestern Kyiv, after being trapped when the Irpin bridge to the city was destroyed.
Earlier on Sunday (27/2), Ukrainian soldiers were seen roaming the center of Kyiv to enforce a curfew to keep people off the streets. The mayor of Klitschko said no Russian troops had managed to enter the city despite the bombardment.
He also warned those outside after 5pm and before 8am would be considered part of an "enemy reconnaissance and sabotage group". He then said there were no Russian troops in the city. But he also announced that at least nine civilians had been 'missing or killed' in the capital, including one child, since the start of the invasion.
Satellite imagery taken on Sunday also showed a large deployment of Russian ground troops moving toward the Ukrainian capital Kyiv from about 40 miles away, a private US company said.
Images released by Maxar Technologies show the deployment consisting of hundreds of military vehicles and stretching over 3 miles. The company has been tracking the buildup of Russian troops for weeks. The latest images circulating, cannot be independently verified.
Ukraine's Health Ministry said Sunday that 352 civilians, including 14 children, have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion. It also said that 1,684 people, including 116 children, were injured.