Two drones from the direction of Ukraine hit a Russian oil refinery near the border. The incident occurred on Wednesday, causing bursts of fire and plumes of black smoke in the sky.
As a result of the attack, oil refinery operations had to stop producing. Since Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, the Russian territory bordering the country has received many attacks.
"One of them (the drone) had an impact, hitting the heat transfer unit, after the fire broke out. The second flew away," the source quoted TASS as saying. In subsequent reports, the fire was said to have been extinguished.
What's even more interesting is the type of drone that was launched in this attack. So far, the drone model has not been definitively identified. But there are characteristics, such as vertical fins on the back.
Ukraine relies a lot on the Bayraktar TB2 drone to attack Russia, but this one is different, for example, it is smaller in size. There are also allegations that the types are PD-1 and WW-1 produced by Ukraine, but they are not exactly the same.
Another suspicion is that the drone was made in Russia, named Forpost, and was seized by Ukraine. This drone is also almost certainly not aid from western countries because there is no similar form.
Well, the analysis that is considered the most convincing is that the drone comes from China and is sold freely on Alibaba. "This drone is not TB2, and Ukraine's WW1 and WW2 are not like that. It's just similar," wrote Chinese military columnist Ben Yao.
He also showed a photo which turned out to be similar. The drone's name is Skyeye 5000mm which is currently on sale on Alibaba 50% off for USD 6,500.
Maybe the Ukrainians bought it because it was quite cheap and considered effective. This drone can carry a load of up to 15 kilograms and can fly for up to two hours. Ukraine may have modified it so it could attack Russian bases.