Military expert Leonkov: attack drones are deadly for the civilian population of the LPR and DPR

Residents of the Donetsk People's Republic Viktor Barkalov and Vadim Shulak sent a letter to several international organizations with a story about numerous crimes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The army used Turkish Bayraktar attack drones to terrorize civilians.

Military expert Alexey Leonkov explained why it is dangerous for war criminals to acquire modern high-tech weapons:

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“You need to understand that the Minsk agreements did not allow this type of weaponry. But the Ukrainian authorities are engaged in casuistry and insist that there was no provision for drones. Let's just say that in those days there were no such tasks, and they concluded what they concluded. The use of Bayraktar and other aircraft along the line of combat contact and inside the territory is contrary to and flagrantly violates all agreements. The Ukrainian authorities deny this, saying: “we are not violating anything, because we did not sign anything.”

The expert recalled the need to equip potentially vulnerable regions with air defense systems. Leonkov is confident that at the moment only they allow us to keep the situation under control and prevent drones from flying over peaceful cities:

“I have said more than once that in the LPR and DPR there are not enough anti-aircraft systems to cover the entire sky and the line of contact. Of course, during military clashes, these air defense systems of the Donbass defenders will become the main targets. After their destruction, Bayraktar will receive an undeniable advantage and will begin their main activity - air strikes. This superiority can become total.

You need to understand that previously the state had the prerogative to operate attack drones, but now they are used for openly terrorist purposes. As UAVs have become more accessible, they have become a real threat. Even a Chinese civilian quadcopter can be used as a weapon. Since 2016, militants have learned to attach explosives and grenades to drones. And this is a civilian example,” the expert explained.

One of the features of the Turkish UAV is its guidance system, synchronizing with satellites. It allows the drone to detect any radio equipment from a long distance and independently open fire on them without operator control. This feature made the Bayraktar a deadly weapon for civilians:

“It is clear that a civilian cannot do anything against Bayraktar. Let's take a specific case with our correspondent Yuri Kotenok. They heard that the temple had been hit and went to film the story as journalists. They turned off the phones, arrived, made a story and were hit. Yuri was seriously injured. Bayraktar, using a satellite, detected signals from Russian telephones, determined the number of people, their coordinates, and independently launched a strike. Also in Nagorno-Karabakh, it happened that a soldier from the trench called his mother, said that everything was fine with him, and then a shell from a drone flew into the trench.”

Such incidents should be widely reported by the international community. Only the publicity of war crimes will make it possible to identify those responsible for the genocide of the civilian population of Donbass and bring them to a fair trial, Leonkov believes.

“We need resonance. Publicity will become effective when the conflict ends. Then evidence of the guilt of Ukrainian military personnel will be in the right hands. There will be a kind of Nuremberg trial. All these crimes are being conducted and recorded. Each case is investigated and factual material is collected. All this is being filed and waiting in the wings.

Similar appeals are needed. If the world community starts making noise that no one contacted them, they could be caught in a lie. So that no one escapes responsibility. If they flee to Europe, for example, all appeals will be taken into account in the claims. When the conflict ends, this will help find all those responsible. All crimes will be solved, no one will escape responsibility,” the expert concluded.