Sneaky Drone Steals Russian Walkie-Talkie From Battlefield

These images show how a sneaky drone managed to steal a Russian walkie-talkie from the battlefield, allowing the Ukrainians to listen in to enemy communications for nine days.

The footage shows a drone flying low over a field before the images cut to shots of another drone with a rope attached to it.

It can be seen skilfully picking up a Russian military walkie-talkie left lying on the battlefield.

The footage shows it catching the walkie-talkie and flying off with it in a move that reportedly allowed the Ukrainian forces to listen in on Russian communications for nine days.

The images were obtained from the K2 Combat Group of the 54th Separate Mechanized Brigade for the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Monday, 16th January, along with a statement saying they show "how a Ukrainian drone stole an enemy walkie-talkie".

They added: "The skill of K-2 aerial scouts and new technologies help the Armed Forces of Ukraine to acquire operational information."

The images were also relayed by the Office of Strategic Communications (StratCom) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

They were also relayed by the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine along with a statement saying: "All this happened in the Seversk-Soledar area at the beginning of December.

"The Russian occupier on the front line saw Ukraine and died. But he left behind a legacy in the form of a walkie-talkie, which was lying next to the trench.

"K2 thought to themselves that such goods should not lie idle and launched a drone with a rope to that place! We had to scramble, but we were able to take it.

"And then for another 9 days, they listened to the secret conversations of the Russian occupiers. And the more conversations there were, the fewer the occupiers there were as a result.

"In this story, there are two components of success: the skill of the operator and the famous Russian 'brainstorming', because no one even reprogrammed the radio station, as required by the safety protocol for the loss of one walkie-talkie."

Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a "special military operation". Today marks the 328th day of the war.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February 2022 and 17th January 2023, Russia had lost about 116,950 personnel, 3,121 tanks, 6,215 armoured combat vehicles, 2,104 artillery units, 441 multiple launch rocket systems, 220 air defence systems, 286 warplanes, 276 helicopters, 1,872 drones, 749 cruise missiles, 17 warships, 4,877 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 190 units of special equipment.

Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Monday that over 7,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

The OHCHR added that it believes that the actual death toll is “considerably higher” but said that it is currently hard to determine due to numerous pending reports and the inaccessibility of parts of the country where intense fighting is currently ongoing.

Turkish ombudsman Seref Malkoc has said that Russia and Ukraine have been putting together a large prisoner exchange deal they could see 1,000 prisoners swapped between the two countries.

Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary of the United Kingdom, has confirmed that the UK will send a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Speaking to the British Parliament, he defined the military support as “the most significant package of combat power to date to accelerate Ukrainian success”.

The announcement makes the UK the first Western power to supply Ukraine with main battle tanks, with Wallace also urging Germany to allow for Leopard tanks to be supplied to Kyiv.

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said that Germany should take “decisive actions” and send “all sorts of weapons” to Ukraine to help the country defend itself against Russian aggression.

Russia and Belarus have begun joint air force drills, increasing fears in Kyiv and among Ukraine’s western allies that Moscow could be pushing its ally into launching a new offensive on Ukraine.

The Norwegian authorities have said that a Russian citizen, named as Andrey Medvedev, who reportedly fought for the notorious Wagner group, a private mercenary organisation that has been operating closely with conventional Russian forces in Ukraine, has crossed into Norway and requested political asylum.