Russia is losing greater than 1,000 troops a day in Ukraine after defending forces began a deadly AI drone counter-attack.
Ukraine has stepped up its own campaign to make use of the technology across the frontline to slow the advance of Vladimir Putin’s troops.
The country’s military reported no less than 32,980 Russian casualties in April. As of Friday, Russia had suffered 28,200 casualties in May, meaning Putin’s forces have seen a median of greater than 1,000 a day in each months.
Much of Ukraine’s recent successes may be put right down to a brand new generation of AI-powered drones, experts have suggested.
The brand new Hornet drone has allowed Ukraine to strike Russian convoys which are travelling to the frontline because it may hit targets which are further away.
It means the Ukrainian army can destroy vehicles supplying Russian forces along key roads in occupied parts of the country like Crimea.
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The Hornet model only needs a human to direct it near the goal area before it locks on.
Its AI targeting system has been trained on hundreds of hours of videos of Russian military targets gathered over the past 4 years of war.
The machine also has access to the Starlink satellite network, which is less liable to being jammed by Russian forces.
Last week, videos emerged of fires raging in Russia after a recent wave of drone attacks.
Ukraine’s defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, said on Wednesday that the ‘logistics lockdown’ is a component of a plan to ‘deny the enemy the flexibility to conduct sustained offensive operations’.
It comes after the top of British spy agency GCHQ, Anne Keast-Butler, said Russian forces were ‘going backwards on the battlefield’ inside Ukraine.
In her first speech since taking the job, the spy chief said Ukraine was pushing Putin’s troops backwards for the primary time since late 2022.
She also said there was ‘latest intelligence showing that nearly half 1,000,000 Russian soldiers have now been killed because the conflict began’.
John Healey, the defence secretary, told the Sun: ‘Ukrainians proceed to fight with huge courage and defiance – civilians and military alike.
‘Ukrainian forces will not be just holding the road – they’re pushing it back, making gains across the front.
‘Month after month, on this brutal war of attrition, Russia is losing tens of hundreds of troops with little gain for such an amazing loss. Putin has not one of the momentum he claims.
‘Our commitment is evident – we are going to stand with Ukraine for so long as it takes.
‘We’re backing Ukraine within the fight today – with drones, training, and cutting-edge kit – and we’re leading the coalition of allies to secure the peace tomorrow.’
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