00:04Hello and welcome to the Cube here in this fact-checking show.
00:07This widely shared video appears to show a handheld device intercepting a drone.
00:12Online, some users have praised it as Ukrainian technology, others say it is Russian.
00:18The device is in fact a Yolka Interceptor drone, a Russian development manned vehicle designed to target small aerial threats.
00:24It is launched by a single operator, can reach speeds of around 200 km per hour and has a range
00:30of less than 5 km.
00:32Unlike a missile, Yolka drones carry no explosive warhead.
00:36They destroy their target through direct impact, a so-called kinetic kill.
00:40So, if the Yolka has no explosive warhead, how does the target appear to explode in this video?
00:46In reality, the blast is more likely caused by the drone itself.
00:50That is also a potential weakness.
00:52Yes, David Batchy, a senior researcher in aerodynamics at the University of Oxford,
00:57says that systems relying on direct impact can be less effective against larger or more robust targets.
01:03Ukraine has comparable systems, including the Sting, designed to intercept Shahed-type attack drones.
01:10And according to research engineer Hite de Kuber, these interceptors may be cheap, but they are not always reliable.
01:16Both sides also rely on many of the same components, making crucial drone parts harder to source.
01:21The video was filmed by the Vaha battalion, a subunit of Spetsnaz Akhmat, which is under the command of the
01:27Russian Defense Ministry,
01:28and made up of volunteers from Chichinia and personal train at the Russian University of Spetsnaz.
01:34An expert told us that Akhmat subunits are typically named after their commanders, with Vaha likely serving as a call
01:40sign.
01:41He added that the unit had been deployed to the Karyki front in northeastern Ukraine, near the Russian border.
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