A drone crashed in the Belgorod region of Russia.
On the night of January 11, local social media pages and Telegram channels reported the incident.
The crash of the UAV led to part of the region being left without a power supply for some time.
The blackout was caused by damage to high-voltage power lines.
The drone crashed in the area of Severny village. Video and photos from the scene and the wreckage of the UAV were published on social media.
“Users from the Severny village report that at about 23:15 (local time), a bright flash in the sky was recorded, after which the light went out. Before that, a long buzzing was heard,” one of the Russian Telegram channels shared.
Judging by the aircraft wreckage captured on eyewitness footage, as well as its weapons, allegedly, the Russian Forpost-RU reconnaissance and combat UAV crashed. The drone carried at least one KAB-20S guided bomb.
The Forpost UCAV is a licensed copy of the Israeli Searcher MkII, which has been manufactured at the Ural Civil Aviation Plant since 2010.
In August 2019, the Russian Ministry of Defense demonstrated the modernized Forpost-R drone with a takeoff weight of 500 kg and a flight duration of up to 18 hours at an altitude of up to 6,000 meters with speed between 120 and 180 km/h.
It was developed considering the experience of using drones in Syria and Donbas, where several Forpost units were lost before the full-scale invasion.
The first operation of a drone of this type in Donbas by Russia was recorded in August 2014.
In 2021, the Forpost-R drone was equipped with strike capabilities and received the new designation Forpost-RU. It can carry a payload of up to 100 kg, it can carry KAB-20 guided bombs and small missiles.