Ukraine makes use of ‘flamethrower drone’ to set Russian defences alight

This is the terrifying moment a Ukrainian ‘flamethrowing drone’ set Russian defences alight with incendiaries that can burn up to 2,400C. 

Footage taken by another drone shows the flamethrower unit methodically tracing a forest understood to be hosting Russian troops, spitting hot thermite down below. 

The length of forest can be seen quickly catching alight, as smoke billows upwards. 

The video was posted by Ukraine’s 108th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade with a single word, referencing the dragons in Game of Thrones: ‘Drakaris.’

Thermite, a mix of iron oxide and magnesium, can burn at temperatures of up to 2,400C, and can quickly tear through flesh if alight.

Despite its extreme danger, it is not banned by any international arms treaty except against civilian populations. 

Footage taken by another drone shows the flamethrower unit methodically tracing a forest understood to be hosting Russian troops, spitting hot thermite down below

The length of forest can be seen quickly catching alight, as smoke billows upwards

The video was posted by Ukraine ’s 108th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade with a single word, referencing the dragons in Game of Thrones : ‘Drakaris.’

Putin, however, doesn’t appear to have any qualms targeting civilian populations, with a grief-stricken Ukrainian mother revealing her devastation upon finding her 14-year-old daughter’s body torn apart by a missile shrapnel. 

Heart-wrenching footage captured the moment her mother broke down as she sat metres away from her daughter’s ravaged body slumped across the bench.

Separate images appeared to show that the girl’s head had been blown apart by shrapnel, with thick pools of blood spewed across the tarmac below her seat. 

The woman was seen sobbing uncontrollably, her legs twitching as grief overcame her body while police and paramedics covered the teenager’s corpse before it was taken to one of Kharkiv’s many morgues. 

‘She was just 14 years old… she had her whole life ahead of her,’ the mother said, her face distorted with anger and anguish. 

The horrendous scene, captured by onlookers and shared by officials, underscores the latest brutality Ukrainian citizens are suffering at the hands of Russia’s armed forces which continue to conduct ruthless bombing campaigns of major cities as thousands of children prepare for the first day of school. 

The brutality with which Putin’s forces are fighting is expected to increase, as Russia is set to amend its doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons in response to what it regards as ‘Western escalation’ in the war in Ukraine, a top official declared yesterday.

The existing nuclear doctrine, set out in a decree by President Vladimir Putin in 2020, says Russia may use nuclear weapons in the event of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatens the existence of the state.

But some of Moscow’s more hawkish military analysts – not to mention politicians – have urged Putin to lower the threshold for nuclear use in order to ‘sober up’ Russia’s enemies in the West.

October 2022 – the launch of a Russian nuclear capable Yars missile at Plesetsk cosmodrome

Soldiers stand next to a Russian RS-24 Yars ballistic missile parked along Tverskaya street prior to a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, on Thursday, May 2, 2024

Russia is believed to have some 5,800 nuclear warheads, more than 1500 of which are operational and ready for deployment with Putin declaring in March that his nation was ready for the eventuality of a nuclear war

Putin said in June the doctrine was a ‘living instrument’ that could change depending on world events, and now Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov appears to have confirmed that work on a new document outlining adjustments is underway.

‘The work is at an advanced stage, and there is a clear direction to make adjustments, which are also conditioned by the study and analysis of the experience of conflict development in recent years,’ Ryabkov said in comments carried by Russia’s TASS news service yesterday.

‘This includes everything related to the escalation course of our Western opponents in connection with the ”special military operation”.’