Ukrainian intelligence planted explosives in Russian goggle headsets, intended to blow up in the faces of highly-prized drone operators, a Kyiv intelligence source told a news outlet.
The series of explosions took place across the country at the start of February this year, causing severe facial and eye injury to Russian soldiers.
The operation involved "Russian volunteers," who donated the booby-trapped goggles, loaded with tiny bombs, to Russian drone units "in coordination" with the Ukrainian intelligence agency (HUR), the Ukrainian official told an English-language news outlet, The Kyiv Independent.
"Today, the horrors of war are literally happening right before the eyes of Russian FPV [drone] pilots. This is a well-deserved punishment for the war crimes that the Russian occupiers commit against Ukraine every day," the HUR source said.
It is unclear if any Russian drone operators were injured or killed in the undercover operation. A senior Ukrainian official, who spoke to The New York Times anonymously, told the U.S. news outlet that there were casualties, but could not reveal the numbers because the operation is ongoing, they said.
Drone warfare innovations have become a defining feature of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, and drone operators have become some of the most valued soldiers on the battlefield, making them important targets for each side.
Online Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda quoted an intelligence source who claimed that HUR is preparing more of these attacks.
"Soon, there will be many more surprise-loaded goggles for Russian occupiers which are now found not only in the Ukrainian Carpathians but also in Russian Siberia," the source said.
The operation involved "Russian volunteers," who donated the booby-trapped goggles, loaded with tiny bombs, to Russian drone units "in coordination" with the Ukrainian intelligence agency (HUR), the Ukrainian official told an English-language news outlet, The Kyiv Independent.
"Today, the horrors of war are literally happening right before the eyes of Russian FPV [drone] pilots. This is a well-deserved punishment for the war crimes that the Russian occupiers commit against Ukraine every day," the HUR source said.
It is unclear if any Russian drone operators were injured or killed in the undercover operation. A senior Ukrainian official, who spoke to The New York Times anonymously, told the U.S. news outlet that there were casualties, but could not reveal the numbers because the operation is ongoing, they said.
Drone warfare innovations have become a defining feature of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, and drone operators have become some of the most valued soldiers on the battlefield, making them important targets for each side.
Online Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda quoted an intelligence source who claimed that HUR is preparing more of these attacks.
"Soon, there will be many more surprise-loaded goggles for Russian occupiers which are now found not only in the Ukrainian Carpathians but also in Russian Siberia," the source said.
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