An anti-drone gun was allegedly being shown off by the pro-Russian, so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and used to shoot a drone out of the sky, as these images purport to show.
The images were obtained from the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on Friday, July 15, along with a statement in which they claimed: “At one of the ranges of the people’s militia, they tested anti-drone guns from the Laboratory of Counteracting Industrial Espionage.
“In order to strengthen the counteraction of enemy UAVs [Unmanned Aerial Vehicles] in the DPR, a number of models of electromagnetic guns were tested, as well as jammers from the Laboratory of Counteracting Industrial Espionage. All models of Drones of various types and manufacturers were successfully suppressed during the tests.”
One of the DPR soldiers claimed: “We wanted to demonstrate weapons that operate on unmanned aerial vehicles, on drones. The weapon has a battery in the magazine, and in order to work at night, it has a thermal imager, because at night the lights are removed from the drones so that they cannot be seen. With a thermal imager you can see it very well and work on it.
“We conduct tests in order to have feedback from the people who produce these weapons. In order for us to increase the efficiency and survivability of our units, this will save lives, we want to have not only a large number of drones, but we want to have weapons that can deactivate drones, because the drone is now the biggest trouble of this war.
“We hope that thanks to this thing, our guys will be completely covered by the drone suppression system. Tests will be conducted on different types of drones.
“Drones are all different and there are different systems now, we will see how effective it is. We brought manufacturers right here to see what really works. I point the weapon at the drone, the drone was suppressed, it fell, the signal from the drone operator disappeared, now we will look for him.”
We have not been able to independently verify the claims or the footage. The make and model of the weapon used in the footage are currently unclear.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin is calling a “special military operation”. July 19 marks the 146th day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between February 24 and July 19, Russia had lost about 38,550 personnel, 1,691 tanks, 3,892 armored combat vehicles, 851 artillery units, 248 multiple launch rocket systems, 113 air defense systems, 220 warplanes, 188 helicopters, 693 drones, 167 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 2,767 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 70 units of special equipment.
Six people have been killed by Russian shelling in the eastern Ukrainian town of Toretsk, according to Ukrainian officials.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed a new acting head of domestic security after he dismissed Ukraine’s previous head of the security service and its prosecutor general, amid claims that some of their staff have been “working against” the country in territories currently occupied by Russia.
The First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, has met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Zelenska is embarking on a series of appearances in Washington D.C. and is set to meet the U.S.’ First Lady Jill Biden.
Ukrainian military officials have said that Russia is preparing the next stage of its invasion after Moscow said that its forces in Ukraine will increase military activities in “all operational areas”.
Ukraine has said that Russia appears to be preparing its forces for an attack on the city of Sloviansk, in the eastern region of Donetsk.
The Russian majority state-owned energy company Gazprom told its European customers that it cannot guarantee gas supplies due to “extraordinary” circumstances.
Turkey has said that a resumption of Ukraine’s grain exports via the Black Sea is “probable” following a meeting with Ukraine, Russia and the United Nations to discuss “small problems”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again threatened to block Sweden and Finland’s bids to join NATO unless his conditions are met.
EU foreign ministers have agreed to a 500-million euro ($510 million) funding package to supply weapons to Ukraine, bringing the total since February to 2.5 billion euros($2.55 billion). EU foreign ministers are also reportedly discussing a ban on the import of Russian gold.
