Was it snooping? Ukraine shoots down China-made bomb drone: Report
Russia-Ukraine War: Also known as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), these are called "Alibaba drones", as they can be bought for up to US$15,000 on the Chinese online platforms such as Alibaba and Taobao, it was reported.
Ukrainian military shot down a weaponised China-made drone- Mugin-5- in the eastern part of the country last Sunday, CNN reported. The drone is manufactured by Mugin Limited which is a Chinese company based in Xiamen. It was shot down by AK-47s by the military, the report claimed.
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Also known as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), these are called "Alibaba drones", as they can be bought for up to US$15,000 on the Chinese online platforms such as Alibaba and Taobao, it was reported.
The manufacturer confirmed the drone as made by them and said that it was discovered near the city of Sloviansk, as per CNN, calling the incident “deeply unfortunate.” The report also said that the drone carried a bomb of about 20 kilograms, which was later detonated by Ukrainian soldiers.
The incident is the latest example of a civilian drone being used since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Although, the drone did not have a camera fitted on it which implied that it was not being used for surveillance. Specialist in drone warfare, Chris Lincoln-Jones suggested that it could have been used as a “dumb bomb”.
“This particular drone that we’ve been looking at would be much more effective if it had a decent camera in it. This seems to be a very crude, unsophisticated, not very technologically advanced way of conducting operations,” he said as per CNN.
NR Jenzen-Jones, an arms and munitions intelligence specialist, told CNN, “Both Russia and Ukraine have used commercially available Chinese platforms such as this during the course of the conflict, including in armed roles."
