Ukraine’s defence intelligence unit carried out a series of explosions involving drone pilot goggles used by Russians on the battlefields in Ukraine, said officials with direct knowledge of the operation.
The officials told the Financial Times that the defence intelligence directorate of Ukraine, known as the GUR, took inspiration from the controversial exploding pagers operation by Israel’s Mossad that killed or maimed thousands of Hizbollah militants and civilians in Lebanon in September.
“We can confirm that this is a successful operation [and] it is still ongoing,” said the person involved in the GUR operation.
“Technologically, it is more complicated than with pagers, but, unfortunately, Russians do not use pagers much,” they added.
The operation involved GUR operatives acquiring a large batch of first-person-view drone goggles, modifying them with a remote detonation mechanism, and then distributing them to Russian drone units through volunteers posing as donors, said the people involved.
Russian state media reported multiple explosions across several regions in early February.