The Defense Ministry in Moscow has published a compilation of successful strikes by operators of the Rubicon UAV center
The Russian Defense Ministry has published a video compilation of successful FPV drone strikes on Ukrainian armored vehicles and military personnel in Donbass. According to the ministry, the attacks were carried out by operators from the elite Rubicon unit, which specializes in testing and deploying unmanned aerial vehicles.
In a description accompanying the footage, the Defense Ministry said on Friday that the strikes depicted in it had taken place in the vicinity of Krasny Lyman in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). The town itself is situated approximately 30km northeast of the city of Slavyansk, which is an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian military in Donbass.
Among the targets hit by Russian FPV drones and featured in the video are a US-made HMMWV armored vehicle, a tank, a Ukrainian dugout, and military robotic systems.
The Rubicon center was established on the order of Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov in August 2024, with the first public mention of it coming several months later. The center is understood to employ artificial intelligence in some of their explosive-laden strike drones.
In an article last September, Forbes magazine described Rubicon as one of the most effective forces on the front and which has expanded the kill zone, targeting Ukrainian logistics in particular.
According to the publication, citing Ukrainian service members, Kiev’s forces are facing a shortage of trucks, pickups, and armored transport vehicles as a result.
First-person-view strike drones have gradually emerged as a key inexpensive short-range tool for both sides in the Ukraine conflict. In recent months, fiber optics-guided FPV drones have increasingly replaced conventional radio-controlled UAVs, which are susceptible to interference and jamming.
