RUSSIAN drone interceptors have been impaling Ukrainian UAVs mid-air in an unprecedented form of sky combat dubbed “jousting”.
Vladimir Putin has also been diverting Ukrainian drones towards the Baltic states – in a desperate bid to make it look like Kyiv is striking its allies.
Flying devices armed with sharp metal rods to stab Ukrainian aircraft have been seen in gob-smacking footage downing targets.
One clip appears to show one of the new Russian aircraft hurtling down before attaching to a Ukrainian Darts-type loitering strike drone.
It stabs down on the Ukrainian craft’s topside before burning its battery.
The target then falls towards the ground while in flames following the mid-air attack.
Similar first-person-view videos recorded from the jousting devices also show other successful and unsuccessful interception attempts.
On several occasions, the Russian interceptor appears to remain completely intact after downing the Ukrainian targets.
Many Ukrainian drones use wings made of polystyrene or foam as it reduces production costs.
But this makes them easy to destroy as their thin skin is vulnerable to piercing.
Other interceptor drones have been seen deploying trident-like rods to thrust through enemy UAVs.
Meanwhile, Putin has also been diverting Ukrainian drones so that they target the Baltic states and other European allies.
Using electronic warfare, Moscow has been tampering with drones mid-flight so that they re-direct to target countries including Finland and Estonia.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said that Kyiv has never fired drones towards the Baltic states.
He also said Ukraine was working hard to ensure these occurrences never happen again.
Sybiha said: “I can state with confidence that in all these cases, these were entirely deliberate and targeted actions by Russia.
“The available intelligence data indicates that Russia has been intentionally diverting drones to the Baltic states in order to use these incidents for its information purposes.
“I am grateful to all our partners, the Baltic states and also Finland, who together with us are stating clearly that the cause of these incidents lies with Russia.
“It is Russia’s war that created all these threats, and it is Russia that has to be forced into peace.”
Three stray Ukrainian drones were found in Finland over the last few days – but no injuries were reported in each case.
In Estonia, another alleged Ukrainian craft was found on Tuesday.
It comes as Putin continues to rake in profits from the war in Iran – while also helping the regime strike US-Israeli targets.
Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that Russia is mapping out US assets in the Middle East – in an alliance with Iran that helped blow up a spy plane worth £700million.
Citing Ukrainian intelligence, the Zelensky accused the Kremlin of sharing satellite images ahead of Iranian bombardments of an American base in Saudi Arabia.
