On July 9 (local time), according to TASS, Russian forces announced that they had killed the commander of a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) unit and a border guard officer in the area where the special military operation took place.
Information provided by an official of the Russian law enforcement agency said that 2 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in combat operations in frontline areas.
According to this source, Major Viktor Tomashevsky, from Kiev, commander of a battalion of the 411th Independent UAV Brigade, was killed in Zaporizhzhia province.
The unit commanded by Mr. Tomashevsky is named Hawks, specializing in operating drone systems for reconnaissance and combat.
In addition, Captain Mikhail Viktorovich Kulich, in charge of communications of the Squall Border Guard Command, under Border Guard Station No. 7 of the Zakarpattia region, is also believed to have died in the Kolodezny area, Kharkov province.
Russia has not announced the specific time of the fighting as well as the methods of carrying out the attacks that led to the above casualties.
According to the Russian side, the Hawks unit once participated in Ukraine's operation in Kursk province and used drones to carry out attack operations targeting the border area.
Sources say that the UAVs of this unit have been deployed to perform many missions in areas bordering Russia.
Russia has repeatedly accused Ukrainian forces of using UAVs to attack residential areas and infrastructure in the border area, and considers this one of the major threats in the current conflict.
In recent times, drones have become an important means of combat for both Russia and Ukraine. The two sides have continuously increased the use of UAVs for reconnaissance missions, target designation, precision strikes as well as defense against attacks from the enemy.
Currently, the Ukrainian side has not made official comments on the information Russia announced related to the deaths of the two military personnel mentioned above.
