Ukrainian forces appear to be increasingly using drones to rain a fire-like substance down on Russian troop positions in the tree lines, newly released combat footage shows.
Multiple Ukrainian units have shared videos this week of their drones dispersing an incendiary material identified as molten thermite, which is essentially tiny pieces of metal burning at temperatures that can reach temperatures of 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
The scorching-hot substance can melt through metal, meaning it can be incredibly damaging when used against some armored vehicles. Ukrainian forces have previously used thermite munitions to destroy abandoned Russian tanks.
Footage of drones releasing molten thermite first surfaced on Monday. It appeared to be the first time during the war that drones have been used in this way and marked the latest innovation for unmanned systems.
Several accounts published a video showing a drone drop molten thermite on a Russian-held tree line in eastern Ukraine, causing multiple fires. The attack was attributed to the Ukrainian military’s 108th Territorial Defense Brigade.
Additional footage of this tactic made the rounds on social media Wednesday, with the Ukrainian military’s 60th Mechanized Brigade publishing a video showing a drone spewing a trail of molten thermite on a tree line at night, leaving behind a trail of fire.
“Strike Drones are our wings of vengeance, bringing fire straight from the sky!” the Ukrainian military brigade wrote in a Facebook post. “They become a real threat to the enemy, burning his positions with an accuracy that no other weapon can achieve.”
The Khorne Group, an element of Ukraine’s 116th Mechanized Brigade, also shared footage showing a fiery-looking drone spewing a trail of smoke behind it and setting the forest below ablaze.
The unit said that it normally opposes videos of new technologies being shared online, but it decided to publish its video anyway since the thermite footage is already out there.
Business Insider was unable to immediately verify the footage.
It was unclear how much damage the drones in the videos are causing for Russian forces in any of these instances, but the thermite-releasing drones appear to have relatively limited combat utility beyond attacking tree lines.
Tree lines, however, have played an important role in the war, as they often separate large fields and provide concealment for Russian forces to set up forward defenses and hide their artillery or armored vehicles.
Russia has been accused of using its own incendiary weapons, including white phosphorus, during the war.
The videos of the fire-breathing drones released this week appear to signal the latest innovation for Ukraine’s various drone programs, as Kyiv and Moscow remain locked in a continuous cycle of unmanned systems development race.
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