On Friday, 18 August, the Ukrainian Defence Forces seized two UAVs from the occupying army of the Russian aggressor country in the south. These are Merlin-BP reconnaissance drones.

This was reported on the Facebook page of the public relations service of the South Air Command. The occupiers lost the drones in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions of Ukraine.

"On 18 August 2023, in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, the air defence forces and means of the "South" Air Command destroyed 2 Merlin-BP reconnaissance UAVs. Together to victory!" - the statement reads.

Merlin-VR is an experimental UAV manufactured by the aggressor country Russia, first presented in September 2021.

These UAVs are designed for reconnaissance in automatic and semi-automatic modes. The developer of this weapon of the occupiers is the Research Institute of Modern Telecommunication Technologies, Smolensk.

The Russians have not reported any tests, serial production or adoption of such a UAV, but were quick to call it a "technological breakthrough" and a "unique solution" due to the presence of an allegedly "hybrid" power plant. It allegedly allows the UAV to carry up to 6.5 kg of payload, have a flight duration of up to 10 hours, and fly almost silently at an altitude of up to 5 km.

On 16 June 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down the first such drone on the territory of Ukraine.

As OBOZREVATEL reported, the Russian army, which the Kremlin has for many years referred to as the mythical status of "friend in the world," lost more than 300,000 soldiers in the war unleashed against Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The total losses on both sides are estimated at up to half a million people, according to The New York Times.

Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram channel, Threads and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!