By now, many will have seen the video of a Ukrainian drone dropping a small bomb through the sunscreen (!) of a car driven by Russian soldiers. Here's a short thread on how it was done (with thanks to @ian_matveev, on whose thread this is based). /1
For the attack, a modified VOG-17 grenade was used. A fin and a front part, created on a 3D printer, are added. The VOG-17 is a Soviet-era 30x120 mm fragmentation grenade with a claimed effective radius of 7m, covering an area of about 150 m². /2
It weighs about 350g (12.3oz) A hobbyist drone like a DJI Phantom 3 is easily capable of carrying one of these. As two grenades were used in this attack, it suggests that a bigger drone was used, two drones were used or the same drone was used to attack twice in succession. /3
The modifications to the grenade are simple, but as the video shows, they enable good aerodynamic performance and high accuracy. /4
The VOG-17 grenade itself contains only 36g (1.2oz) of explosive and can't seriously damage equipment. But there is a lot of such ammunition in Ukraine. It's usually fired from an AG-17 automatic grenade launcher, a Soviet equivalent of the US Mk 19. /5
Low-cost hobbyist drones armed with small modified grenades provide a cheap and effective weapon against individual soldiers. Factions in Syria and Iraq used them to some extent, but they've really come into their own in Ukraine. /6
But how do you destroy an armoured vehicle with an off-the-shelf drone? Ukraine appears to have been using a few different approaches. One of the most effective has been to repurpose the RKG-3, an old Soviet-era type of anti-tank grenade dating to 1950. /7
In 2020, Ukraine's PJSC Mayak Plant demonstrated a drone bomb conversion for the RKG-3 - attaching 3D-printed fins to convert it into the RKG-1600. It weighs about 1kg (2 lb), requiring the use of a larger drone. /8
During testing, drone pilots were able to hit a target 1m (3ft) in size from an altitude of 300m (900 ft). At that altitude the drone would have been virtually invisible and inaudible. /9
Another tactic appears to be the use of what are likely to be aerially-dropped mortar rounds - a very simple and cheap option, particularly against weakly armoured vehicles such as these Russian BMP-3s (with only about 10mm of top armour). /10
The effect of these can be seen in the video below. /11
The cost-effectiveness of these things is extraordinary. An octocopter drone costs maybe $10k, a Phantom 3 costs around $500. A mortar or RKG-1600 probably costs under $100. Each BMP-3 cost the Russians $796k. Add to that the potential cost of a lost crew. /12
You can bet that military strategists will be watching this with great interest. Drones are now able to effectively snipe soldiers and equipment with great precision, likely undetected, at any time of the day or night and in most weather conditions. /13
Even if you're camouflaged, bivouacked or behind the front lines, a drone armed with a small bomb could be overhead at any moment. Drone pilots are the new snipers of the 21st century, and are likely to be just as much feared by their targets. /end
An extra point about how effective those converted anti-tank grenades (RKG-1600) are: the most recent models of the base RKG-3 grenade can penetrate 220 mm of rolled homogeneous armour. That's more than enough to take out a tank, as this video shows:
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1/ MEMOIRS OF A MOBIK, PART 4: Mobilised Russian soldier 'Ukol' continues his recollections of working as a medical orderly on the front line. In this final part, he describes how he participated in the torture and execution of Ukrainian POWs before having a mental breakdown. ⬇️
2/ Part 1, covering his initial mobilisation and transportation to Ukraine, is here:
1/ MEMOIRS OF A MOBIK, PART 3: 'Ukol', a Russian soldier who is a rare survivor of the original September 2022 mobilisation, continues his recollections of his service on the front lines in Ukraine. He speaks of his experiences as a medical orderly under Ukrainian bombardment. ⬇️
2/ Part 1, covering his initial mobilisation and transportation to Ukraine, is here:
1/ MEMOIRS OF A MOBIK, PART 2: Three years after he was mobilised, a Russian medical orderly with the callsign 'Ukol' talks with a fellow 'mobik' about his experiences. He describes the chaos and carnage he found when he was sent to fight in Ukraine. ⬇️
2/ For the first part, in which Ukol describes how he was mobilised and transported to Ukraine in a train filled with wildly drunken men and officers who were preparing to die, see below:
3/ Having arrived in the occupied Luhansk region in October 2022, "We were indeed brought and initially settled in settlements a couple of dozen kilometers from the immediate rear. The brigade's reinforcements were concentrated."
1/ Three years ago, in September 2022, Russia began mobilising 300,000 men to fight in Ukraine. Most are now dead or disabled, but two survivors have been discussing their experiences of mobilisation, enduring Ukrainian attacks, surviving "meat waves," and murdering POWs. ⬇️
2/ The author of the 'Vault No. 8' Telegram channel is a serving frontline Russian soldier and one of the original September 2022 'mobiks'. He says that he is the only one of his cohort to have lasted this long without being killed or taken out of the war through disablement.
3/ He has been interviewing another surviving September 2022 mobik, a man with the callsign 'Ukol' who is serving as a medical instructor in what he calls the 'Separate Rifle Death Brigade', which he says is "a complete asshole. A bloody asshole."
1/ A prominent Russian political scientist has proposed sending Russian veterans of the war in Ukraine to Siberia, as a way of securing a new Asian destiny for Russia. This has received a frosty response from Russian warbloggers. ⬇️
2/ The proposal was made by Sergey Karaganov, the scientific director of the Faculty of World Economy and World Politics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, and Honorary Chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy.
3/ In an article titled "Logistics for Greater Eurasia", Karaganov argues that Russia should turn its back on an ungrateful Europe and focus instead on an Asian destiny.
1/ Russia's mass drone incursion in Poland is only the latest episode in a long-running series of incursions in nine other European countries, as far away as Croatia, since 2022. There have been at least 56 instances of Russian drones and missiles landing outside Ukraine. ⬇️
2/ The Russian independent news outlet Verstka reports that Russian drone and missile debris was found in countries other than Ukraine seven times in 2022, 16 times in 2023, 17 times in 2024 and 16 times in 2025 prior to 10 September.
3/ Romania has been the worst affected, with 20 such incidents since 2022 – one in 2022, 7 in 2023 and 2024, and 5 in 2025. This is closely correlated with Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports on the Danube river, which marks the Ukraine/Romania border.