VLADIMIR Putin has begun deploying kamikaze drones that select their own targets using AI in a fresh assault on Ukraine.
The country now faces over 500 drone strikes every night, as the Russian tyrant appears to have stepped up assaults following operation Spiderweb.
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Marking a new era in tech warfare, the drone uses AI to autonomously “search for” and hit targets.
The weapons were spotted by Ukrainian intelligence in Sumy, where some 125,000 Russian soldiers had gathered earlier this week.
Analysts believe this might be the beginnings of a summer offensive, with a focus on Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka, and Pokrovsk in the Donbas.
Vlad already controls more than 95 per cent of Luhansk, but capturing Donetsk would cement his control over the Donbas region and achieve a war aim, albeit a scaled-down one.
The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine said: “The key feature of the drone is its ability to autonomously search for and select targets using artificial intelligence.
“Its computing system is based on the Chinese Leetop A203 minicomputer, with a high-speed processor assembly built on the NVIDIA Jetson Orin module.”
This comes as Putin has reportedly ramped up drone production and is building new launch sites after vowing to exact revenge for Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb.
Russia will soon be able to deploy over 500 long-range drone a night, reports Kyiv Independent.
Some 70 drone units a day are now being made compared to just 21 last year, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence.
Officials believe Russia’s progress and quick developments in drone warfare is thanks to help from China.
Though Beijing has repeatedly denied supplying drones or weapon components to Russia, the UAV is reportedly “mostly assembled from Chinese-manufactured components.”
Meanwhile, Trump and Biden have both hit China with sanctions to stop it getting access to computer chips.
This comes just hours after drones and missiles were launched at Kyiv as Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bombers were reportedly unleashed to rain hell on the infamous Snake Island in the Black Sea.
Moscow launched a massive strike on Rivne using its Tu-22M3 and Tu-95MS strategic bombers to hit Dubny airbase.
Squadrons of these fighter jets were targeted and destroyed last week in Kyiv’s daring Operation Spiderweb.
Another key Ukrainian military airport – Hostomel – was also attacked as Putin sought revenge for the humiliating attack.
Polish armed forces command said Nato fighter jets were patrolling due to “intensive air attack by the Russian Federation on Ukrainian territory”.
Just days ago, Kharkiv was rocked overnight as 48 kamikaze drones, along with missiles and guided bombs, slammed into residential areas, according to the city’s mayor.
“We have a lot of damage,” Ihor Terekhov said.
More than 50 explosions rocked Kharkiv, with the mayor adding it was “the most powerful attack” on the city of the 39-month war.
In the latest terror strikes on civilians, 18 multi-story buildings and 13 private houses were hit and damaged.
In Kyiv, a dramatic tower block video filmed by a resident showed the terror of another Putin strike on civilians as flames from the exploding drone shot some 80ft up the building.
Three were killed and at least 21 wounded, including a six-weeks-old baby, and a 14-year-old girl.
A woman, 26, trapped under a slab of concrete was eventually freed three hours after the strike, and was seen being stretchered to an ambulance.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha described how hundreds of drones and missiles “rained down” on his country overnight.
He wrote in a social media post: “Kharkiv had a particularly terrible night.
“People were injured and killed, and the energy infrastructure was also damaged.”
Sybiha added there were further strikes in the Donetsk, Dnipro, Ternopil and Odesa regions.
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