Some 24 Russian Drone Pilots Killed in HIMARS Rocket Attack

A group of 24 Russian drone pilots were killed in a targeted strike on a building in which they were being trained in the operation of first person view (FPV) drones.

Pro-Ukrainian Telegram account, “Cheka-OGPU” reported that the attack took place on January 24 around 1500 hours near the village of Pokrovka in the occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine, a rocket attack was carried out, as a result of which 24 Russian servicemen were killed and 4 more were injured.

The location of the attack is said to a mere 50 kms from the front lines which has made it easy for the Ukrainians to target the training facility.

The fact of the liquidation of the group of pilots was confirmed by a number of Russian bloggers related to the Russian Armed Forces, as well as representatives of the organization that trained the pilots.

FPV drones are being regularly used by Russian troops to attack tanks, armored vehicles and fortified positions of the Ukrainian Army. These drones have to be maneuvered along roads, trees and buildings and thus require skilled pilots to operate them.

The killed pilots belong to the “Doomsday team” - thus called for their active use of shock FPV drones on the front lines.

It is noted that only people in the affected building were injured as a result of the strike, although there were many other targets at the training ground. Allegedly, this became possible due to a leak of information about a specific event.

The head of the courses of the "Judgment Day" project, without any verification, sent the coordinates of where to come for training to strangers through a bot. The Himars have arrived. There are dead people ," said one of the Russian bloggers.

Experienced drone pilots remain a scarce resource in the conditions of increasing volumes of production and use of FPV drones. Their elimination comes as a big blow to Russia’s ability to use the highly effective FPV drones. The object itself, in which a group of Russian occupiers was hit, is located more than 50 kilometers from the battle line.