The head of the Ukrainian government center of counteracting disinformation Andrij Kałenko announced on Saturday that “unidentified drones” hit the fiber -optic factory in the capital of the Republic of Mordovia, Saransk, located about 800 km from the Russian border with Ukraine. Kałenko stated that the company produces materials for control systems, communication and data transmission, including for controlling drones.
On video recordings published on Saturday social media you can see a powerful explosion and fire in Saransk.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that Russian forces from Friday to Saturday shot down three drones over the Republic of Mordovia, and the head of the Artiom Zdunov region confirmed that the drone hit the company.
The importance of a Ukrainian attack
Fiber optic drones FPV (First-Person View, i.e. allowing live view) are equipped with a fiber wound on a spool, which develops during the flight and connects the machine with the operator. Thanks to the use of this technology, unmanned aerial vehicles are resistant to military devices that target radioelectronic waves, but have less maneuverability and are more susceptible to losing communication. Drones of this type are used in combat by both Russian and Ukrainian forces.
ISW said that it is not able to verify the damage that occurred at the Saransk factory. At the same time, he added that successful Ukrainian attacks on the enterprise would probably limit the possibilities of the Russian army in the scope of providing soldiers of optical fibers used by drones.
