Ukrainian air force shoots down own drone
Ukraine's air force said on Thursday it had destroyed one of its own drones after it had begun flying out of control over Kyiv region.
WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 5, 2023
Ukraine's air force said it had destroyed one of its own drones after it had begun flying out of control over the Kyiv region. The air force said the drone had probably suffered a technical failure pic.twitter.com/zA85B4pkTh
"On 4th May at about 8 PM during a planned flight in Kyiv region, control was lost over a Bayraktar TB2 drone," the air force said in a statement on Telegram.
"As the uncontrolled flight of the drone in skies over the capital could have led to undesirable consequences, the decision was taken to use mobile fire groups. The target, destroyed!"
The statement said the drone had probably suffered a technical failure.
The air force statement came after a comment by Ukraine's presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak, who earlier said that an enemy drone had been shot down.
The explosions resonated in Kyiv for about 15 to 20 minutes, and followed a wave of overnight Russian attacks between Wednesday and Thursday.
The Bayraktar TB2, a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations, is manufactured by the Turkish private defense company Baykar.
When Baykar's Bayraktar TB drones were first deployed by Ukraine in combat last summer, they emerged as a weapon system that could tip the scales in Kyiv's favor. In the initial few weeks, they enjoyed the element of surprise and proved instrumental in some missions.
Russia's commander of the Air Defense Force Andrey Demin said on 10 April that over 100 Bayraktar TB drones, supplied to Ukraine, have been destroyed in the course of the war in Ukraine.
