Russian forces destroyed the Malakhit-M vehicle - Ukraine's mobile radar station. The Russian Defense Ministry also released a video of the attack.
In a statement to TASS news agency on September 4, the Russian Defense Ministry said the Malakhit-M vehicle was spotted by a surface intelligence team in Ukraine's Sumy region, bordering Russia's Kursk region, where fierce fighting has been going on for nearly a month.
The radar station was completely destroyed by a Lancet suicide drone, officials noted.
The undated clip released by the Russian Defense Ministry shows Malakhit-M in a forested terrain, after being directly attacked by a drone. A few minutes after the explosion, the car was completely submerged in a sea of fire, with smoke columns rising in the air. The fate of the Ukrainian soldiers is currently unknown.
Ukraine's Malakhit-M is a modernized version of the Soviet-era P-18 radar station in the 1970s. It can detect small targets in a range of up to 400km. By 2022, the Ukrainian military is estimated to have about 50 such radar stations.
As drone strikes have become one of the most prominent features of the Ukrainian conflict, Russia has actively used Lancet UAVs to attack various Ukrainian targets, including Western-supplied tanks.
Developed by ZALA Aero Group under Kalashnikov Concern Group, the Lancet drone has some improvements, can carry a payload of up to 3kg with a maximum range of 50km.
