First Strike: The Political Consequences of Ukraine’s Bayraktar Drone Attack on Russia-Backed Forces in Donbas (Yuri Lapaiev, The Jamestown Foundation)

On October 26, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) for the first time used the Turkish-produced Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) to strike at forces of the so-called Donetsk “People’s Republic” (DPR) militia in Donbas. According to the official statement of the AFU General Staff, enemy units used a battery of D-30 howitzers to fire on Ukrainian positions in the area of ​​the settlement of Hranitne (Donetsk Oblast). Two AFU service members were wounded during the shelling, and one was killed. After several attempts to stop the shelling through diplomatic channels—via the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Special Monitoring Mission (OSCE SMM)—the AFU’s commander-in-chief, Major General Valeriy Zaluzhny, ordered Ukrainian units to deploy a Bayraktar TB2 to fire on and suppress the enemy’s offensive capabilities. The UCAV did not cross the line of contact, but it destroyed one howitzer gun with a guided bomb. In order to minimize casualties, a small ordnance was used—an 8.5-kilogram МАМ-С modification. This succeeded in halting further shelling of the Ukrainian positions. Within hours, the AFU posted a video of the strike online (Facebook.com, October 26).

First Strike: The Political Consequences of Ukraine’s Bayraktar Drone Attack on Russia-Backed Forces in Donbas – Jamestown