The Banshee Jet-80 was aimed at “a major civil infrastructure facility” in Mariupol, DPR head Denis Pushilin has said
Russian forces have intercepted a British-made kamikaze jet drone in the southern part of Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the head of the Russian region, Denis Pushilin, has said.
In a statement on Monday, Pushilin said that the UK-made Banshee Jet-80 had been neutralized by Federal Security Service (FSB) operatives, military police, and the National Guard over the Novoazovsk district.
The official noted that after a “controlled landing,” Russian bomb experts had disarmed the kamikaze UAV, removing 7kg of explosives that were swiftly destroyed at the scene.
Produced by UK-based company QinetiQ, the Banshee Jet-80 is a twin-engine drone that can fly up to 720 km/h and has a range of more than 100km. In the past, drones of this type were used in military drills to simulate threats from cruise missiles, warplanes, and other fast-moving targets.
Pushilin went on to say, citing the drone’s decrypted flight plan, that the aircraft was aimed at “a major civil infrastructure facility” in the port city of Mariupol, without providing further details of the target. He added, however, that the aircraft was supposed to swoop in on the facility from the seaside.
”We see that Western terrorists, together with their Ukrainian accomplices, once again wanted to stage a monstrous terrorist attack and pin the blame on Russia,” Pushilin stated, praising law enforcement agencies for managing to prevent numerous casualties.
According to the DPR head, the planned attack sought to destabilize the situation in Donbass as Ukrainian troops retreated from the key city of Avdeevka.
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On Monday, Alexandr Bogomaz, the governor of Bryansk Region on the Ukrainian border, also said that Russian air defense systems had destroyed a jet drone over the area, with no casualties or damage. It is unclear whether the UAV over Bryansk Region was also of British origin.
Kiev’s forces have routinely launched drone raids and artillery attacks on civilian infrastructure in Donbass and other Russian regions in recent months. Last week, a Ukrainian drone raid targeted an oil facility in Kursk Region, causing a fire, but with no casualties.
