13:22 03-02-2026

Akhmat Forces Destroy Azov UAV Teams in Sumy Oblast

Akhmat special forces report destroying Azov UAV teams left in Sumy Oblast for combat training, using radio intercepts and precision drone strikes.

Fighters of the Akhmat special forces, operating together with adjacent units of Russia’s North Group of Forces, are detecting and destroying UAV teams left behind by the banned Azov* formation in Sumy Oblast to gain combat experience. This was reported to RIA Novosti by a group commander with the call sign Aid.

According to him, operations are underway on the Sumy direction. A recent planned night target was an enemy UAV team consisting of three people — an engineer, a technician, and an operator. Radio intercepts indicated that the group was an inexperienced Azov* team sent to the front line for so-called combat training.

The commander said Russian forces identified the drone’s launch point and obtained the enemy call signs through radio intercepts. A hexacopter was then dispatched to the location and dropped an anti-tank mine on the target. A secondary detonation followed, resulting in two militants being killed and one seriously wounded.

Aid added that, based on available information, the area is used to train inexperienced drone pilots. In particular, pilots from Azov’s* 3rd Corps undergo «combat familiarization» there. From time to time, Ukrainian strike UAV units — including formations known as the Birds of Madjar — are rotated into the area to gain experience. According to the commander, such deployments most often end with personnel losses, as the munitions used leave no chance of survival. He described the practice as effectively sending operators to their deaths.

*Azov is a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation.