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Euronews reported that a video circulating on social media depicts the Yolka, a lightweight Russian portable drone interceptor. Experts detailed its design, guidance systems and operational limits.
EuronewsA video showing a portable military system intercepting a drone has circulated widely on social media in recent weeks. Euronews reported that the device is the Yolka drone interceptor, an unmanned aerial vehicle developed in Russia and used by Russian forces to counter Ukrainian drones during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
David Bacci, senior researcher in aerodynamics at the University of Oxford, stated the Yolka is a lightweight, portable interceptor designed to be operated by a single person.
He said the operator launches it similarly to a rocket, it reaches a maximum speed of around 200 km/h, weighs less than two kilograms and relies first on an electro-optical guidance system before switching to infrared guidance in the terminal phase.
Bacci added that the system has an operational range of less than five kilometres and destroys targets through direct impact rather than detonation because it carries no warhead. On 18 March, Sergei "Flash" Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine's Ministry of Defence, outlined further characteristics on Telegram.
He stated the Yolka can only operate during daylight hours, cannot function effectively in rain and sees performance deterioration in high-contrast cloud conditions or under direct bright sunlight. Geert De Cubber, a research engineer at the Royal Military Academy of Belgium, said the explosion visible in the footage is more likely caused by the explosives carried by the targeted Ukrainian drone.
He noted that interceptor drones have become an increasingly important counter-drone tool on both sides of the war, though videos online show only successful interceptions.
Ukraine has developed its own comparable system, the Sting interceptor drone, designed to counter Iranian-made Shahed attack drones. De Cubber said both Russia and Ukraine rely on many of the same commercial components to manufacture drones. A military insignia visible in the video belongs to the Vakha Battalion, a sub-unit of Spetsnaz Akhmat.
The Vakha Battalion confirmed to Euronews that it had originally filmed and published the footage. The Akhmat Special Forces were established by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in March 2022 to participate in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and are commanded by Apti Alaudinov.
According to statements from the battalion's commander, the Vakha Battalion has been operating on the Kharkiv front since Vakha Saaev, a cousin of Alaudinov, assumed command.
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