This is the dramatic moment a Ukrainian kamikaze drone slammed into and destroyed one of Vladimir Putin’s most valuable air defence systems.
Footage released by Kyiv shows Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) wiping out an S-400 Triumph missile launcher in the occupied Crimean village of Uyutne, near Yevpatoria.
Spies inside Crimea helped pinpoint the site, which also housed a large ammunition depot belonging to Russia’s 18th Army.
The strike disabled the mobile launcher while it was on active combat duty.
Reports say a Russian 92N6E multi-functional radar and power supply equipment used to run the S-400 command post were also destroyed.
The state-of-the-art system had been used to shield occupying forces and launch attacks deep into Ukrainian territory.
Kamikaze drones from Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, using Starlink guidance, were deployed alongside SOF FP-2 drones to take out the air defence battery.
Ukrainian intelligence teams also hit the AORL-1AS and P-18 Terek radar systems. The operation took place on October 6 but was kept secret for over a month for security reasons.
Footage released by Kyiv shows Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) wiping out an S-400 Triumph missile launcher
Resistance sources inside Crimea helped pinpoint the site, which also housed a large ammunition depot belonging to Russia ‘s 18th Army
The state-of-the-art system had been used to shield occupying forces and launch attacks deep into Ukrainian territory
It comes a week after Ukraine launched a major drone strike on a Russian dam in the Belgorod region, forcing authorities to declare an emergency and leaving several Russian units stranded.
Water from the damaged Belgorod reservoir surged into the Siverskyi Donets River, flooding bunkers and supply routes around Vovchansk.
Footage posted online shows water roaring through the shattered structure and debris strewn across the dam.
Local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed the reservoir had been hit and urged residents in Shebekino and Bezlyudovka to evacuate due to flood risk.
Ukrainian commanders say the attack has created a logistical crisis for Russian troops in the area.
It follows a broader Ukrainian campaign targeting Russian energy and refining infrastructure, which has taken up to a fifth of Moscow’s refining capacity offline in recent weeks.
Ukraine used British Storm Shadow missiles to strike an important chemical plant that produces gunpowder in southern Russia.
In recent months, European leaders and the Trump administration have intensified efforts to pressure Russia into talks to end the four-year war in Ukraine.
After President Trump met Vladimir Putin in Alaska earlier this year, a follow-up summit in Hungary was planned, but it was later scrapped after a reportedly tense phone call between US and Russian negotiators.
The decision was made following discussions between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The call is understood to have gone badly, with Lavrov insisting Moscow would not accept any deal that froze the current front line.
The Kremlin has since said there is no ‘precise timeframe’ for a new Trump-Putin summit.
Donald Trump threatened to send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine which could reach Moscow
File photo: A Tomahawk missile is launched over the Mediterranean sea
President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart at the White House
The meeting had been floated after Trump threatened to send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine – a game changer as it would Kyiv the ability to strike deep inside Russia.
He later rowed back on his stance after meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he hoped the conflict could be resolved ‘without thinking about Tomahawks’, which the US ‘needs’ – a remark that reportedly frustrated the Ukrainian leader.
The uncertainty over a preparatory peace summit has added to delays in Trump’s bid to end the war.
Zelensky and European leaders have accused Putin of stalling while continuing his assault, and have made clear they oppose any deal that would require Kyiv to give up territory seized by Russian forces, as Trump has at times suggested.