Russian army reeling as Ukraine wipes out drone command centre and over 800 troops

Ukraine's army destroyed the headquarters of an elite Russian drone unit in a lethal strike. Special forces from Ukraine's Defence Intelligence agency (GUR) dropped a hundred kilograms of explosives from a FP-2 UAV on a command centre belonging to the Rubicon unit.

The explosion ripped through the HQ, obliterating it and causing an unspecified number of casualties. Rubicon has emerged as one of the most combat effective units of Russia's army, helping it to drive out Ukrainian troops from Kursk in the spring. The Russian drone operators are also playing a key part in the offensive to take Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine.

Maria Berlinska, head of the Ukrainian Aerial Reconnaissance Support Centre, described Rubicon as "Russia's best technological unit".

"Rubicon has brilliant management, works systematically, selects the best personnel, provides training, and supplies all necessary resources," she wrote in a Facebook post.

"They pour money into it. Everyone who knows how Rubicon works agrees on one thing: It is very effective."

The command centre was detected in Avdiivka, the Donetsk city captured by Putin's army in February 2024.

In a statement to its Telegram channel, the GUR wrote: "Using the obtained coordinates of the enemy's location, GUR specialists, in conditions of dense urban development, skillfully directed the FP-2 unmanned device equipped with a 105-kilogram warhead at the Muscovites.

"As a result of the strike, officers and UAV operators of the Russian 'Rubicon' who were in the headquarters were eliminated."

It comes as Ukraine's General Staff claimed that Russia had suffered 849 casualties in just one day, as fighting continues all along the frontlines.

This brings the total number of Russian losses to a staggering 1,145,670, according to data from Kyiv's army.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had advanced in Pokrovsk, trapping Ukrainian soldiers near the railway station.

Volodymyr Zelensky refuted the Russian claims, saying Putin's army had made no gains in the past day.

He conceded, though, that up to 300 Russian servicemen were still in the city, which remained under extreme pressure.