VLADIMIR Putin has begun deploying kamikaze drones that select their own targets using AI in a fresh assault on Ukraine.
The country now faces over 500 drone strikes every night, as the Russian tyrant appears to have stepped up assaults following operation Spiderweb.
Marking a new era in tech warfare, the drone uses AI to autonomously “search for” and hit targets.
The weapons were spotted by Ukrainian intelligence in Sumy, where some 125,000 Russian soldiers had gathered earlier this week.
Analysts believe this might be the beginnings of a summer offensive, with a focus on Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka, and Pokrovsk in the Donbas.
Vlad currently dominates over 95% of Luhansk. Nonetheless, taking over Donetsk would solidify his power in the Donbas area and accomplish a strategic objective, albeit on a smaller scale.
Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence noted, “An essential aspect of this drone is its capacity to independently search for and pinpoint targets through artificial intelligence.”
“Its computing system is based on the Chinese Leetop A203 minicomputer, with a high-speed processor assembly built on the NVIDIA Jetson Orin module.”
Meanwhile, reports indicate that Putin has increased drone manufacturing and is establishing additional launch facilities following his promise to retaliate for Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb.
Some 70 drone units a day are now being made compared to just 21 last year, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence.
Russia’s progress and developments in drone warfare is down to help from China, they added.
Though Beijing has repeatedly denied supplying drones or weapon components to Russia, the UAV is reportedly “mostly assembled from Chinese-manufactured components.”
Meanwhile, Trump and Biden have both hit China with sanctions to stop it getting access to computer chips.
This comes just hours after drones and missiles were launched at Kyiv as Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bombers were reportedly unleashed to rain hell on the infamous Snake Island in the Black Sea.
Moscow launched a massive strike on Rivne using its Tu-22M3 and Tu-95MS strategic bombers to hit Dubny airbase.
Squadrons of these fighter jets were targeted and destroyed last week in Kyiv’s daring Operation Spiderweb.
Another key Ukrainian military airport – Hostomel – was also attacked as Putin sought revenge for the humiliating attack.
Polish armed forces command said Nato fighter jets were patrolling due to “intensive air attack by the Russian Federation on Ukrainian territory”.
Just days ago, Kharkiv was rocked overnight as 48 kamikaze drones, along with missiles and guided bombs, slammed into residential areas, according to the city’s mayor.
“We have a lot of damage,” Ihor Terekhov said.
More than 50 explosions rocked Kharkiv, with the mayor adding it was “the most powerful attack” on the city of the 39-month war.
In the latest terror strikes on civilians, 18 multi-story buildings and 13 private houses were hit and damaged.
In Kyiv, a dramatic tower block video filmed by a resident showed the terror of another Putin strike on civilians as flames from the exploding drone shot some 80ft up the building.
Three were killed and at least 21 wounded, including a six-weeks-old baby, and a 14-year-old girl.
A woman, 26, trapped under a slab of concrete was eventually freed three hours after the strike, and was seen being stretchered to an ambulance.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha described how hundreds of drones and missiles “rained down” on his country overnight.
He wrote in a social media post: “Kharkiv had a particularly terrible night.
“People were injured and killed, and the energy infrastructure was also damaged.”
Sybiha added there were further strikes in the Donetsk, Dnipro, Ternopil and Odesa regions.
