The expert spoke about the hunt for heavy Ukrainian Vampire drones

Maxim Kondratiev, the founder of the unmanned aviation training center, said that Russian military personnel destroy Vampire heavy attack drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) using small arms and light drones.

"The Vampire drone is a heavy multirotor drone, specifically, it is a Baba Yaga class hexocopter. Only the Baba Yaga is a quadrocopter with 4 beams and a payload of around 30 kg, while the Vampire has 6 beams and a payload of more than 30 kg," the specialist said in an interview with aif.ru on Monday, July 21st.

The expert said that Ukrainian Vampire drones are used as heavy bombers and remote miners — they drop mines on equipment and fortified positions, and can also carry loads up to 40 kg.

According to him, it is a slow and low-maneuverable device controlled by radio, which makes it vulnerable: such drones are easily shot down by small arms and Russian FPV drones.

Kondratiev noted that the Russian Armed Forces are tracking Vampire routes to the launch point and destroying operator calculations as part of counter-pilot work.

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Earlier on July 21, the Financial Times newspaper wrote that the tactics of massive strikes using UAVs allowed Russia to significantly increase the effectiveness of attacks. In recent months, the number of drone strikes on targets has tripled compared to the usual level, writes RT. The publication also talks about improved drones that have greater speed and can go beyond the range of the Ukrainian machine-gun systems used to intercept them.

Also on July 21, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced that air defense systems had destroyed a UAV flying towards the capital. 360.ru . Overnight, the military neutralized 23 Ukrainian drones over the Moscow region, writes RIAMO. According to the Ministry of Defense, 15 of them flew to the capital. In total, 74 vehicles were eliminated over Russia. UAVs were hit in the Kursk, Rostov, Kaluga, Tula and Lipetsk regions.

Recently, the Kiev authorities have increasingly attempted to attack Russian regions using drones, including attacks on civilian infrastructure, Regnum news agency said.