Ukrainian Military Intelligence Plants Explosives In Russian Drone Operator’s VR Goggles, Blinding 8 Of Them

Ukraine’s military intelligence planted explosives inside the virtual reality goggles of Russian drone pilots earlier this month. Russians have used many first-person-view or FPV drones, and the pilots required special goggles to fly them.

The Ukrainian secret agency, the HUR, hid small bombs in the goggles that Russian soldiers use to control drones and donated the goggles to the Russian military under the pretense of humanitarian aid.

This agency acquired a massive batch of nearly 80 video piloting goggles for the Russian army drone pilots and then equipped them with a “remote detonation function.”

“After that, in coordination with the HUR, Russian volunteers sent the ‘explosive’ goggles free of charge, as a charitable donation, to the UAV units of the enemy army,” a Ukrainian intelligence official told Politico.

The Russian pro-war Telegram channel reported that each device held as much as 15 grams of plastic explosives and detonators. The explosives were filled into boxes fashioned with 3D printers, which were installed in place of fans. 

Earlier this month, Russian pro-war bloggers reported several cases of the FPV drone goggles exploding on the pilots’ heads, blinding at least eight of them in Russia’s Kursk and Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions. They exploded once a kamikaze drone operator activated them. C-4 explosive, a detonator and a battery were found inside them, the bloggers stated.

The Russian news agency, TASS, reported the alleged sabotage of the goggles in early February.

On Feb. 20, a senior Ukrainian official verified that Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, HUR, came up with the scheme. 

According to social media posts, the plot appeared to mostly make Russian soldiers skeptical about using goggles in the future.

The senior Ukrainian official told The New York Times that there were casualties, but he did not reveal numbers because the explosive goggles operation is ongoing.

According to Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the Russian Public Chamber on Sovereignty Committee, Russian intelligence officials have been investigating the case as sabotage.

“Over time, there will be more,” the Ukrainian official who spoke to Politico stated, suggesting that the Ukrainian intelligence now operates within Russia.

Drones have become a central part of both sides’ war strategies.

Russia has repeatedly launched large-scale strikes on Ukraine, including its power grid.

On Dec. 7, Ukraine also used drones to target Russian gas platforms in the Black Sea, which Russia was using as “naval observation posts” and radar stations.