In a deadly David-and-Goliath ambush, Ukrainian amateur drone users destroy Russia’s 40-mile convoy

A SQUAD of amateur drone users claims to have destroyed Russia’s 40-mile convoy in a series of deadly ambushes.

The unlikely heroes destroyed large sections of Russia’s infamous “death convoy” of tanks and armoured vehicles, which was stranded outside Kyiv.

Volunteer experts from the specialist air reconnaissance unit Aerorozvidka attacked Russian troops with drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras or capable of dropping small bombs, as well as sniper rifles.

Lt Col Yaroslav Honchar, the group’s commander, said an ambush near the town of Ivankiv helped to halt the massive Russian operation during the first days of the Ukraine invasion.

To prevent the Russians from advancing, the special IT force approached the column at night on quad bikes and attacked its supply depot.

“This one little unit in the night destroyed two or three vehicles at the head of this convoy, and then it got stuck,” Honchar told the Guardian.

“They stayed there two more nights, and [destroyed] many vehicles.”

“The first echelon of the Russian force was stuck without heat, without oil, without bombs and without gas. And it all happened because of the work of 30 people,” he added.

The elite unit claims it also helped to stop a Russian airborne attack on Hostomel airport by shelling 200 paratroopers.

Honchar compared the group’s fight to the work of “a hive of bees.”

“One bee is nothing, but when confronted with a thousand, it can defeat a large force.” “We’re like bees, except we work at night,” he explained.

The key to the group’s success is that they attack in the dark “when Russians sleep,” as Putin’s forces stay in their tanks at night for fear of being hit by Ukrainian shelling.

“It’s impossible to see our drones at night,” a team member told the Times.

“We look for the most valuable truck in the convoy and then hit it precisely, and we can do it really well with very little collateral damage — even in villages.” At night, you can get much closer.”

And the team that has reportedly destroyed dozens of “priority targets” is reliant on Starlink satellites donated to them by SpaceX founder Elon Musk on the first days of the invasion.

The team was formed in 2014, when a group of young Ukrainians volunteered to assist in the fight against Russia’s invasion of Crimea and the Donbas region.

The quick victory promised by Russia’s leader to his troops has not materialised, with Ukrainians putting up a strong fight.

In protest, a Russian soldier is said to have driven his tank into his commanding officer, while a taxi driver surrendered with a tank in exchange for £7,500 and Ukrainian citizenship.

Meanwhile, in another blow to Putin’s war, Ukrainian forces have reclaimed Trostianets, one of the first towns to fall.

According to defence sources, Russia’s defeat is a significant victory because it opens a path to the besieged city of Sumy.

The Russian President is expected to lose in Kyiv, while Ukrainians have worked hard to reclaim Kherson.

Kherson was the first major city to be taken by Russian troops, but Ukrainian forces responded heroically.

President Zelensky said his troops had delivered “powerful blows” to Moscow’s forces encircling the capital and urged the Kremlin to negotiate an end to the bloody conflict.