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Ukraine Sees Increased Kamikaze Drone Attacks by Russia

The drones, supplied by Iran, destroy themselves on impact, recalling Japanese tactics near the end of World War II using piloted planes.

During the battle of the Pacific in World War II, Japanese forces organized a furious attack on Allied naval vessels. The suicide attacks involved aircraft with pilots on board intentionally crashing into warships to inflict maximum damage.

Some 3,800 kamikaze pilots died during the intense confrontations and the U.S. suffered more than 7,000 naval personnel casualties.

The aircraft were equipped with bombs and torpedoes. The attacks began in late 1944 as the Japanese forces grew more frantic desperate. They continued until the end of the war.

Death was more desirable than defeat in the Japanese military code. But while the kamikazes inflicted significant damage, in the end, they did not deter the Allied forces from finishing the deal.

Now, the kamikaze term is being used for unmanned drone strikes Russia is conducting on civilian targets in Ukraine using drones supplied by Iran.

Below is a video of one such attack. This was posted to TikTok by @alexandrkravets yesterday.

Iran Denies Involvement

On Oct. 17, Iran denied having sold any such drones to Russia.

"The published news about Iran providing Russia with drones has political ambitions and it's circulated by western sources. We have not provided weaponry to any side of the countries at war," said Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani, according to Reuters.

The attacks on Kyiv are "mainly the Iranian-made Shahed 136 which the Russians renamed Geran 2," The Aviationist reports. In recent action, "the Ukrainian MoD claims about 37 such drones and 3 cruise missiles were shot down, while an unspecified number of them struck their targets."

Moscow also insists the drone strikes are a product of its own technological invention. Journalist and Twitter user @ChristopherJM isn't buying it.

"No, we have no information on this," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is reported to have said.

"Because of the distinctive buzzing sounds they make as they approach, the Shahed-136s are typically less destructive than precision missiles — civilians can see and hear them coming, so they have more time to seek shelter before any explosion," the Washington Post reports. "Some Ukrainians have dubbed them 'flying mopeds' because of their loud engines."

They also recall Germany's use of V1 "buzz bombs" to attack England late in World War II.

NATO Vows to Help Ukraine Fight Back

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said Oct. 18 that it's ready to help Ukraine defend itself against the drone attacks. 

Ukraine said the drones have targeted power stations and have blown up about a third of them during the last week.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO will equip Ukraine with air defense capability during the next few days. At a security conference in Berlin he made it very clear.

"The most important thing we can do is deliver on what allies have promised, to step up and deliver even more air defence systems," he said, according to Reuters. "NATO will in the coming days deliver counter-drone systems to counter the specific threat of drones, including those from Iran."

"No nation should support the illegal war of Russia against Ukraine," he added.

Another Ukraine response to the threat might look like this. It's a machine gun attached to a drone. Twitter user @Blue_Sauron shares this video taking a look at the idea.