Ukrainian drone units continue to demonstrate a growing ability to locate and neutralize russian air defense systems, striking at one of the most critical layers of Moscow's battlefield architecture. According to a statement released on April 23 by the commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, Major Robert Madyar Brovdi, multiple russian surface-to-air missile systems were successfully targeted in coordinated operations.
The reported strikes were carried out primarily by drone operators from the newly formed Unit 13 within the 414th Unmanned Systems Brigade. This unit, assembled from experienced personnel of the brigade's 6th and 7th battalions, appears to represent an effort to consolidate skilled drone pilots into a more specialized strike element.
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During the night of April 23, the Unit 13 reportedly destroyed three out of four identified air defense systems using Ukrainian-made B-2 strike drones. These drones fall into the mid-strike category, suggesting a balance between range, payload, and precision. Their warheads, weighing between 7 and 11 kilograms, indicate a capability sufficient to critically damage or destroy high-value targets such as mobile SAM systems.
Among the confirmed targets were two Tor-M2 short-range air defense systems and one Osa system, all located in temporarily occupied areas of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Tor-M2 system, in particular, is considered one of russia's more modern and capable short-range air defense platforms, designed to intercept a wide range of aerial threats, including drones, making its destruction especially significant.
In a separate but related effort, operators from the Raid 413th Regiment struck another Tor-M2 system twice in russia's Bryansk region.
According to Robert Brovdi, Ukrainian unmanned units have hit a total of 22 russian air defense systems in April alone. While not all of these strikes necessarily resulted in confirmed destruction, the figure underscores the scale and intensity of Ukraine's campaign against russian air defenses.
Read more: russian Tor-M2 System, Tank, and Robot Destroyed: Ukrainian 414th Brigade Hunts Targets in Donetsk (Video)
