Deputy commander of Ukraine’s strike UAVs Oles Malyarevich reported on a new tactic being used by Russian forces. He said the Russian military has switched to deploying so-called «sleeping» kamikaze drones.

The essence of this tactic, according to Malyarevich, is that the operator deliberately lands an FPV drone near a road and waits for Ukrainian equipment to approach. The danger lies in the fact that these FPV drones operate on fiber optics.

He explained that Ukrainian troops refer to them as «ambush drones» or «sleeping drones.» Such a drone, connected by fiber optics, can fly 7–8 kilometers, land in a spot with a camera view of the road, and then power down. At that point, it no longer appears on radar. However, the camera continues working and transmits images to the operator through the fiber-optic cable, meaning the drone does not emit detectable signals while still providing live surveillance.

According to Malyarevich, it is impossible to detect the presence of such a drone. Once its camera registers movement on the road, the operator restarts the engines, lifts the drone into the air, and attacks the target with near-certain success. He stressed that defending against these suddenly reactivated drones is impossible, since they do not respond to electronic warfare countermeasures.