Drone with artificial intelligence? What fell on Maidan Nezalezhnosti - statement of the Ministry of Defence and experts' opinion

This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to Defense Express, comments by officials of the Defence Ministry and the Centre for Countering Disinformation.

Defense Express experts suggested that the drone that fell in the centre of Kiev was a Lancet-type drone.

According to them, this is evidenced by the found wreckage of the apparatus. In particular, the characteristic X-shaped tail feathering with a pusher propeller, inherent in this type of drones, is noticeable.

It is very likely that such a kamikaze drone could have used an artificial intelligence system.

It could have been configured to operate as part of a swarm, navigate autonomously, search for targets independently, and strike without direct communication with the operator. This may be indicated by unusual markings in the form of coloured circles.

At the same time, similar markings have already been noticed on Russian autonomous drones V2U. It is also not excluded that mesh modems or mobile networks could be used for communication in this apparatus.

As for the range of the Lancet, the figure of about 50 kilometres is usually referred to, but in fact this is the radius of stable communication. At the same time, Russia has already claimed that such drones regularly cover a distance of up to 90 kilometres, and the maximum recorded parameter was allegedly 136 kilometres.

What the Defence Ministry says

Serhiy Beskrestnov, adviser to the Ukrainian Defence Minister, said that no Lancet can fly to Kiev, because these are attack UAVs with a small ammunition for frontline targets, they do not have sufficient battery life and radio control capabilities.

I believe that the wreckage was probably deliberately dropped from the Shaheds as part of an informational special operation by the enemy. I am very sorry that one publication has decided to play along with the enemy and hype this topic," the Defence Minister's advisor said.

According to him, the military continue to collect information to analyse the events: they study radio signals, radar data and photos from interceptor drones.

The head of the Centre for Countering Disinformation (CCD) under the National Security and Defence Council, Andriy Kovalenko, also noted that it was possible that the Russians had dropped this wreckage of a drone with an AI, as such a drone could not have flown to Kiev from the territory of the Russian Federation.