Inside Russia’s Secret Drone Unit: How “Rubicon” Is Reshaping the Ukraine War | APT - video Dailymotion

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Russia’s drone strategy has undergone a dramatic transformation—and CNN reporting reveals how a top-secret unit known as Rubicon is driving that shift. In this video, we break down how Rubicon’s rapid innovation, from fiber-optic drones to AI-enabled systems, is reshaping the battlefield in Ukraine and pressuring Ukrainian defenses.  Rubicon’s rise began in 2024 under Defense Minister Andrey Belousov and has since expanded into a full military command dedicated to unmanned systems. With advanced training, new tactics, radar networks, and battlefield integration, the unit is altering front-line combat from Donetsk to Sumy—and even extending to naval drone strikes in the Black Sea.  In this video, we explore how Rubicon turned Ukraine’s drone edge into a vulnerability, the role of Russia’s new unmanned systems command, front-line accounts from Ukrainian commanders, the impact of fiber-optic drones and the Molniya UAV, Ukraine’s efforts to hunt Rubicon bases and adapt its own drone forces, and why analysts warn Russia’s innovation poses a wider threat to Europe.  This is a deep dive into a rapidly evolving drone war—one defined by innovation, countermeasures, and an accelerating arms race.  #UkraineWar #Russia #Rubicon #MilitaryTechnology #DroneWarfare #Ukraine #RussiaUkraineWar #DefenseTech #UAV #DroneWar #Analysis

Transcript

00:00A top-secret Russian military unit known as Rubicon is reshaping the drone war in Ukraine,

00:10turning what had long been a Ukrainian advantage into a growing vulnerability.

00:15Russia's rapid drone modernization is now exerting significant pressure on Ukrainian

00:21defenses and changing the dynamics of the conflict, according to new reporting from CNN.

00:27Rubicon, formerly the Rubicon Center for Advanced Unmanned Technologies, was established quietly

00:33in Moscow.

00:34But its growth accelerated after Andrei Belousov became Russia's defense minister in June 2024.

00:41Few months later, CNN noted that Belousov toured Rubicon's headquarters in October 2024, where

00:47official Russian media showed him inspecting a suite of experimental drones.

00:52The unit has since become a symbol of the Russian military's shift away from rigid, old-style

00:57doctrines toward faster battlefield innovation.

01:02Ukraine had already formed its own unmanned systems forces in mid-2024, but Russia moved

01:08quickly to match and surpass that effort.

01:11In June, President Vladimir Putin announced the creation of a dedicated command for unmanned

01:17aerial systems.

01:19CNN reported that the new command became operational last week.

01:23Its deputy commander, Kol Sergei Istuganov, described the change succinctly, emphasizing the

01:29scale of the investment.

01:31Just a year ago, our troops weren't so saturated with drones of all types.

01:35But gradually, Russian units managed to turn the tide in the skies.

01:39We are assigning operators, engineers, technicians, and other support specialists to these units.

01:52Rubicon isn't just producing drones.

01:54It's developing AI systems, robotics, and, notably, fiber-optic drones that provide real-time

02:00video feeds, and cannot be jammed because they're tethered by cable.

02:05Defense analyst Michael Koffman told CNN that Rubicon formations have become a major challenge

02:10for Ukrainian drone operators, not only because of the drones themselves, but because Rubicon

02:16is now training other Russian units.

02:19CNN reported that Rubicon's frontline presence was first identified after Ukrainian forces briefly

02:25advanced into Russia's Kursk region last summer.

02:29When Rubicon units arrived, Ukrainian troops said their supply routes were, almost completely

02:34cut off by drone attacks.

02:37Two Ukrainian commanders later told CNN that a highly skilled Russian unit, one they didn't

02:42recognize at the time, had suddenly altered the fight by hunting both logistics and drone

02:48operators.

02:49That unit, they later learned, was Rubicon.

02:52Near Kostyan Tinivka in Donetsk, a battalion commander from Ukraine's 93rd Brigade told CNN

02:58that within a week of Rubicon's integration with Russian brigades, his unit had lost most

03:03of its vehicles, antennas, communications equipment, and drone launch sites.

03:09Speaking to CNN, retired Australian general and analyst Mick Ryan stated that the war has

03:14evolved into a saturated drone operating environment.

03:25Ukraine is working aggressively to counter Rubicon.

03:28According to CNN, forces have installed nets along roads behind the lines to snag Russian

03:34drones.

03:35Rubicon, meanwhile, has built radar systems capable of bringing down Ukrainian UAVs.

03:43Ukrainian electronic warfare specialist Serhii Beskresnov told CNN that Russian forces have

03:49captured all types of Ukraine's primary UAVs and studied their electronics and communication

03:55systems.

03:56Rubicon units also appear to have played a key role in Russia's first successful naval

04:01drone strike, hitting a Ukrainian vessel in the Danube estuary in August.

04:06Two weeks later, Rubicon claimed to have struck another Ukrainian naval vessel at a Black Sea

04:11gas platform.

04:13As Rubicon's influence expanded, Ukrainian intelligence began searching for its forward bases.

04:19As per the CNN report, a Ukrainian drone strike recently destroyed a Rubicon headquarters in

04:25occupied Avdivka.

04:27In Sumy, a Ukrainian drone unit attached to the 71st Jaeger Brigade released video of strikes

04:33on antennas and dugouts they identified as belonging to Rubicon.

04:37We detect, search for antennas, satellite communication terminals, dugouts, and strike them.

04:45The unit's commander, Vyacheslav, told CNN.

04:48He added that Russia's advantage lies largely in the number of fiber-optic drones Rubicon can

04:53deploy.

04:54The availability of these drones, how many they can launch, how many we can launch.

04:58That's the key difference.

05:07As CNN describes, the conflict is a constant cycle of adaptation.

05:12One side changes frequencies, the other counters.

05:15One jams the signals, the other shifts to new bands.

05:19Rubicon's arsenal includes the Molnir drone, a largely plywood UAV capable of carrying a payload

05:26of up to 7kg and flying more than 30km beyond the front.

05:31It can also act as a mothership, releasing two FPV drones mid-mission.

05:36CNN reported that Molnir strikes have made movement along key routes increasingly hazardous.

05:43When Ukrainian forces captured Molnir, they immediately began copying and improving the

05:48design.

05:49They have since created the FP-2, capable of hitting Rubicon command posts at least 20km

05:55from the front line.

05:56A recent analysis from the Special Competitive Studies Project, cited by CNN, warns that Russia's

06:02accelerated innovation makes it a more dangerous adversary for Ukraine.

06:08Military analyst Dara Massakot told CNN that the future envisioned by Rubicon includes autonomous

06:15drone swarms, micro-drones resembling insects, and platforms designed to overwhelm any defense.

06:22Drone warfare, and the electronic warfare built to counter it, is evolving almost weekly.

06:28As Massakot put it,

06:29Experts are fond of saying that armies shape war, but war shapes armies as well.

06:34For Ukrainian drone commander Vyacheslav, the reality is much more immediate.

06:40Systematic work.

06:41Detection, destruction, detection, destruction.

06:45What began as a contest of drones has become a race for survival, and Rubicon now sits at the

06:50center of that transformation.

Inside Russia’s Secret Drone Unit: How “Rubicon” Is Reshaping the Ukraine War | APT

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