Ukrainian soldiers drop explosive payload into Russia with night drone

Now to Ukraine, where heavy fighting continues as Russia tries to advance in the eastern Kharkiv region. Russia is trying to change the shape of the battlefield as those billions in new U.S. aid begin to arrive. Last week, the Pentagon said the first installments included air defense, artillery rounds, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons. Nick Paton Walsh has more on what the battle looks like right now from the front lines. Dusk begins a race to hide before dark. It’s this drone unit’s first night in a new location. What was the twilight? A tiny window when perhaps you can unpack, set up without the Russian drones that are always, always above seeing you is clearly like so much in this fast changing war. Their task was unimaginable when Moscow invaded. No, their target is on the horizon. Russia itself, into which they fly and plant mines on key roads. They wait for dark. Those lights twinkling over there on the horizon. That Belgorod Russia. How close they’re operating towards Russian mainland. Putin’s latest offensive towards Hakki has made the fight personal for Artyom. His parents live about a five minute drive away, and fighting for his literal home is unsettling. We’ll need someone to deal with only a little of all the years. A lot of pressure from my older brother is from Baltimore. Don’t you see us, ghost or not? More positive right now. And now for the first of many times, their only defense is to listen for drones. It wasn’t that long ago, but I’m not here for a long while. It passes now. It is dark. The mystery. Spoken. Russian drones have thermal cameras. They hear another. Ticking. That’s more like the last moments. Battles raging nearby may help them go unnoticed. They resume. Any strike could also ignite the two mines there, fitting. That. They hit another drone. One of the three. There’s just. An such an escalation over two years into the war to now see Ukrainians flying drones of explosive straight into Russia. Insight. Sasha watches it cross the border. I don’t know what that development is when they’re busy. Keeps them in communication. Remarkably, when Russian jamming kicks in, the drone keeps going. There, primary change clinches. And they’re able to pick the signal up again deeper inside Russia. They spot the target road. They will mine drop both payloads and head back. A GPS problem means the drone crash lands, but they have a spare. They once elsewhere managed 24 sorties in one night, but they have to be spotted only once. And these shells may not pass overhead. We leave quick lights off at first to avoid drones. The road littered with anti-tank defenses, not laid out in time to hinder Russia’s latest advance. And now they have only courage and ingenuity to hold back the dark. Nic, how is morale among the soldiers right now as the Russian attacks on Kharkiv have increased? I think it’s fair to say a group like that we were with were pretty buoyed by the task they’re given, feeling they can actually take the fight, as it were, back into Russia, to Russia, something we didn’t even know indeed happened, that they were laying mines to interrupt the ability of Russia to get across its own border. But I also think in other units we’ve been talking to around this area, it isn’t particularly great. I think there is a sense of disconcerting that there has not been adequate fortification put in place in the northern border to hold that Russian offensive that took place about a week ago back. And also that we’re going to see a slow arrival potentially of Western aid into people’s hands to give them the upper hand. The staggering thing, Anderson, though, is to see how drones have completely changed daily life on the frontline. Pretty much every unit we’ve been with since you’ve been here in the last week, at some point, we’ve been told to run for cover to get away from the visibility of Russian drones flying overhead. Sometimes they simply don’t even know who the drone belongs to when it hovers above them. And it’s most likely Russians trying to spot targets for the intensive airstrikes, huge half ton bombs or superior artillery. They’ve got more ammunition currently than the Ukrainians to bring them to bear on those positions. So it does appear, yes, in recent days, the Russians, as violence may have slowed, they’re certainly not making the huge strides deeper into Ukraine than perhaps they thought they might be able to. But ultimately, it is an uphill task, certainly, and it’s one that may get tougher in the weeks ahead, because at this stage there are thoughts Russia may start probing in other parts around the front line rather than necessarily focusing on the areas already hit here north of Hakki. For Anderson, behind me, just we’ve heard explosions over the night, but it’s desolate here, utterly silent. Lights of hockey bracing, frankly, for any potential Russian attacks tonight Anderson. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you. Appreciate you being there. Be careful.

CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh shows how a Ukrainian drone team works tirelessly to send explosive payloads into Russian territory. #CNN #News

38 comments

  2. We can all clearly so Joe Biden is not well, he has dementia and it is progressing rapidly. We all see Joe stumbling around all dazed and confused, most days he doesnt know where he is.

  7. Horrible Ukraine an usa wants nuclar war horrible we need Pres Trump to stop this now ..nato corrupt also.

  8. What a waste of American tax dollars nobody I know, supports given the Ukrainians or Israel money. let them fight their own battles. We have our own issues at home.

  13. Zelensky didn't try to prevent the conflict through diplomacy because he lacks honor and integrity.

    In 2014 there was a coup. Soon after, there was a massacre in Odessa (dozens of people were burned alive). Ethnic Russians living in Ukraine were treated as subhuman. Their language and culture was being oppressed. A civil war broke out due to the rise in ethnic tensions. For 8 years the Ukrainian military was indiscriminately shelling civilians living in Donbas.

    If Zelensky honored the Minsk agreement and pledged neutrality, none of this would have happened. The 8 year civil war would have ended and Donbas would have remained part of Ukraine. War is the ultimate failure of diplomacy.

    Zelensky, Poroshenko, Merkel and Hollande admitted that Ukraine had no intention to honor the Minsk agreements.

    Who didn't want peace? Who advised against the 2022 peace talks in April? Hint: someone visited Zelensky in Kiev at that time.

    Russia's national security was compromised once nato began to expand eastwards. Russia clearly stated that Ukraine joining nato was a red line (November 2021) and unfortunately this concern was never taken seriously. The Russians openly stated: if nothing changes, we will be forced to act in order to defend our national security. Enhancing the national security of one country at the expense of another is unacceptable. The Russians have legitimate security concerns.

    20th September, 2021. Ukraine launched military drills with US and NATO.

    NATO is not a defensive alliance. Nato illegally bombed Yugoslavia (a direct violation of the U.N. Charter).
    We should never forget what they did to Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq etc.

    Who blew up the pipeline causing an environmental disaster?

    Zelensky banned all opposition and arrested a leading priest.

    Zelensky tried to invoke article 5 under false pretenses. Remember the incident in Poland.

    Ethnic Russians living in Ukraine were treated as subhuman. Their language and culture was being oppressed.
    Poroshenko said, “Our children will go to schools and kindergartens—theirs will hide in the basements”.

    Russians will never forget the 2014 Odessa massacre. The whole world needs to know about it.

    Why was Denis Kireev eliminated? He was a member of Ukraine's negotiating team during the peace negotiations. He wanted to help his country.

    Ukraine has a hit list. They target artists, journalists and ordinary citizens. Hundreds of children are on this list. 13 year old Faina Savenkova was placed on this list.
    Pink Floyd's Roger Waters is on this list. Jimmy Dore (American stand-up comedian, podcaster) and Aaron Maté (Canadian writer and journalist) are on this list.

    There is evidence that Ukrainian troops have been indiscriminately shelling civilians in Donbas (they used petal mines and targeted areas where there was no military presence).

    The azov troops trapped in the azovstal steelworks in Mariupol used human shields. They refused to allow civilians to leave despite of humanitarian corridors being present.
    Russia held a proposed cease fire in order for the civilians to leave, but azov would not allow the civilians to leave.

    Ukraine has committed many acts of terrorism (car bombs and other forms of assassination). Darya Dugina (journalist) RIP.

    The first terrorist attack on the Kerch bridge killed the truck driver and the individuals in the adjacent car (innocent civilian victims).
    The second terrorist attack on the Kerch bridge killed two parents and severely injured their young daughter.

    I have done a lot of research and it took me a long time to write this comment. I have stated a lot of facts and I have given my honest opinion.
    I have provided a brief summary of events that took place. In order to explain this whole situation in great detail, a book would need to be written.
    Hopefully someone will write an UNBIASED book, stating facts and allowing the readers to form their own judgments. Everything I said can be fact checked and verified.

  14. Ukraine’s top negotiator, Davyd Arakhamia: Russia was “prepared to end the war if we agreed to… neutrality, and committed that we would not join NATO.”
    But the US and UK stood in the way.

  15. Zelensky, Poroshenko, Merkel and Hollande admitted that Ukraine had no intention to honor the Minsk agreements.
    Who didn't want peace? Who advised against the 2022 peace talks in April? Hint: someone visited Zelensky in Kiev at that time.

  22. The Republicans did a great job of stalling aid to Ukraine, giving Russia an advantage they would not otherwise have had. Now we'll see if the resumption in arms shipments is in time, or if they succeeded in giving Ukraine to Putin.
    Blood on their hands either way.

  24. Ukraine cannot win the war as things stand even with this $61Billion worth of military aid. Zelensky is in a world of delusion .. The West unnecessarily pushed Nato into the heartland of Russia.They should have implemented Minsk agreements and not used them as time gap for rearming Ukraine as told by Angela Merkel, the former Chancellor of Germany.The counteroffensive has failed miserably,all their so called cutting edge weapons are blown up in the battle field and Russians are on the attack and will capture Kiev unless U.S provide weapons. All these U.S and Nato arm chair generals have only war experience in fighting insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.Without air power support, they have pushed Ukraine into war with Russia, inarguably the most powerful army in the world today after Ukraine war.

  29. How many innocent civilians have died as a result of escalating miliitary conflicts around the world under the current Democratic Biden Administration selling billions upon billions of weapons abroad compared with the previous administration.

  35. What was this story supposed to show? It turned out to be the best advert for how good Russian electronic warfare systems are. Ukraine is good at fooling the western media but not at fighting.

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