Ukrainian Armed Forces shot down a Chinese-made Mugin-5 civilian drone in eastern Ukraine. On this subject writing CNN in reference to the Ukrainian military and employees of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).
The SBU told the TV station that the drone was launched on the night of March 10-11 from Russian-controlled territory. When the flying object was spotted, the security service raised the alarm in military units near Sloviansk in the Donetsk region. At around 2 a.m., Ukrainian territorial defense fighters spotted a drone in the sky and shot it down with an AK-47.
A Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman named Maxim noted that the drone was flying low enough to be hit with small arms.
As a result, soldiers found the wreckage and discovered that the Russians had used a civilian Chinese-made Mugin-5 drone, which had been upgraded for military use, to attack. The soldiers also showed CNN the wreckage of the downed drone.
According to Ukrainian soldiers, a bomb weighing around 20 kilograms was attached to the drone. According to weapons expert NR Jazen-Jones, the bomb release mechanism was 3D printed.
The Mugin 5 is a civilian drone manufactured by the Chinese company Mugin Limited, based in the port city of Xianmen. Tech bloggers point out that the drone is called the “Alibaba drone” because it can be purchased for $15,000 in Chinese marketplaces, including Alibaba and Taobao (Mugin Limited). noted Mugin-5 Pro drone price is $9,499).
The company confirmed in an interview with the TV channel that a drone of their production was shot down in eastern Ukraine and called the incident “extremely regrettable”.
At the same time, Jezen-Jones pointed out that Russia and Ukraine used Chinese developments during the military conflict. In particular, at the beginning of March, the “Military Informant” published photographs of a Mugin-5-Pro drone allegedly launched by Ukraine and planted by electronic warfare in Crimea. March 13 Telegram Channel informed that “a Ukrainian Mugin-5 Pro drone fell from the LPR controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.
Formerly Mugin Limited published a statement in which he condemned the use of his drones for military purposes, and also said that as soon as a large-scale military conflict began, he stopped accepting orders from Russia and the Ukraine.
On February 19, CNN reported, citing intelligence sources, that China intended to increase its support for Russia and begin supplying it with weapons. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken declared that Beijing plans to provide military assistance to Moscow. According to the Wall Street Journal, China intended to supply Russia, in particular with combat drones. Public officials of China denied such projects.