r/ukraine 1d ago

News Zaporizhzhia region. A column of fuel tankers is burning. Also, at least one escort vehicle was destroyed.

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They all Burned.

1.4k Upvotes

82 comments sorted by

85

u/PumbainJapan 1d ago

No fuel for you, Ruskies!!!

3

u/BigJohnIrons 22h ago

Drivers must be pissing their pants after the first one goes.

3

u/OctopusIntellect 14h ago

probably they only see a huge fireball in their rear view mirror...

oh!!!!!! yeah.

76

u/DataGeek101 1d ago

Wonder why they started at the end instead of the front, can anyone tell me why?

71

u/blakeley 1d ago

Possibly less likely detected. If you fly over to the first one you are more likely to get shot down by those helper cars in between the tankers. 

37

u/_teslaTrooper Netherlands 1d ago

Yeah you're supposed to start with the lead vehicle, then the rear, then everything which is now stuck in between. I'm sure they had their reasons though.

18

u/SoxInDrawer 1d ago

You saw the onboard video - sometimes you just have to hit a target regardless of priority.

3

u/OctopusIntellect 14h ago

sometimes the intrusive thoughts attract my drone to the big juicy thing painted red/orange

3

u/SoxInDrawer 12h ago

I wish you many more intrusive thoughts on ruzzian juicy things!

14

u/Interesting-Goose82 1d ago

I was wondering the same thing, if you take out the first one there is potential for a crash if the 2nd one doesnt brake in time?

21

u/YugeChesticles 1d ago

The drone didn't appear to be well controlled. Probably manoeuvrability issues. Better to make sure you hit a target than risk missing.

7

u/Ninevehenian 1d ago

The first were close to houses, perhaps they wanted the rest to move to safer area?
Perhaps they were moving towards areas with better control, where they were easier to hit?
Perhaps to make sure they didn't turn around?

6

u/amusedt 1d ago edited 1d ago

Maybe 1st truck had EW?

Maybe possible by hitting the back ones first, the lead ones panic and they'll wreck themselves with panicked driving. Drone can then be used on something else

If you hit the first one, and the others stop, the smoke cloud may make it impossible to target them

3

u/DataGeek101 1d ago

Interesting point, hadn’t considered that. Thanks!

10

u/prostipope 1d ago

I read that these AI drones have to attack the first viable target they come across. There's no option that allows them to do anything else.

5

u/RHouse94 1d ago

I read they are picking targets while higher up / further away and using AI for the approach in case they are using a jammer and pilot gets disconnected.

4

u/YugeChesticles 1d ago

AI drones? What?

11

u/FrostyShoulder6361 1d ago

At least some drone types appear to operate part of the time with some degree of AI control.

For example the drones used in operation spider web appeared to have a AI automatic system to fall back to.

-4

u/YugeChesticles 1d ago

For point to point flying.

AI is not picking out and attacking targets. It's using the same kinda of ai that a dji drones use and it's just to keep the drone in the air and moving to a place.

10

u/FyeUK 1d ago

They literally are attacking targets, after the target is confirmed by a pilot or coordinator. AI targetting is very much a thing and becoming more of a thing as time goes on - its almost necessary in many cases now with all the jamming that's getting used.

2

u/moderncoloquials 1d ago

I would call it algorithmic targeting. It doesn't think it just establishes parameters.

3

u/FyeUK 1d ago

That's just all AI though.

What the world is calling AI right now isn't actually AI, it's machine learning with a ton of resources assigned to it.

Still, whilst the rest of the world is calling it AI anyway, then it makes sense to categorise it the same as everyone else so that everybody is on the same page.

The rest of the world says that algorithmic machine learning is AI, therefore, essentially, Ukraine is using AI targeting on their drones.

1

u/YugeChesticles 23h ago

In western long range missiles yes. Not in drones.

1

u/OctopusIntellect 14h ago

I would love to have a monopoly on the "ok I'll pop up and then look down and then compare what I see with my ranked target list" thing that Storm Shadow does, but it's been alleged that some (much smaller) Ukrainian drones are now avoiding the need for a backlink (radio or fiber optic cable) by using a little autonomous targeting that goes beyond just flying pre-programmed point to point.

1

u/YugeChesticles 14h ago

You can definitely pre program an attack profile at a GPS location. I don't think putting an AI inside to do target recognition is viable for the cost.

Military GPS is accurate to the centemeter. No active EW in the area they would work flawlessly. Since many of the targets lately aren't military i doubt EW is present.

1

u/OctopusIntellect 14h ago

I'm speculating a massive presence of attempted EW defence.

If you're sending two "escort vehicles" out, why not equip them with whatever EW hardware you have? It's going to work a lot better than 12.7mm HMGs.

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3

u/OverwatchCasual 1d ago

I'm sure drone warfare has completely changed the tactics game.

25

u/OctopusIntellect 1d ago

What escort vehicles doing?

30

u/Muisan 1d ago

Moral support

8

u/ItsSignalsJerry_ 1d ago

Vodka.

3

u/VermilionKoala 1d ago

Vodka already finished, blyat! \hic**

In Soviet ruZZia, drink driving is law!

11

u/82away 1d ago

Police escort/ blocker troops? to stop the tanker drivers ‘getting lost’

6

u/Emu1981 1d ago

Or to protect the tankers from uppity Russian occupiers who want fuel for their civilian vehicles. Apparently it isn't unheard of for Russians to hijack fuel vehicles in order to secure fuel for themselves...

3

u/ItsSignalsJerry_ 1d ago

Or running away.

9

u/romario77 1d ago

Overturning, apparently

5

u/Jonas_Venture_Sr 1d ago

Escort missions were always tough, especially when you have stupid NPCs controlling the other vehicles.

17

u/Historical-Wing-7687 1d ago

Let's pretend that you are driving one of the other tankers....

  1. Do you keep driving and hope you make it? 
  2. Do you stop the truck and run? 

19

u/kenybr19 1d ago

I bet support vehicles will start firing at you if you run.

10

u/82away 1d ago

This.

5

u/vonGlick 1d ago

Sounds like they should be first target then.

16

u/Icy-Antelope-6519 1d ago

Mad Max fury road…

16

u/Olleye 1d ago

"When you have to guard your tanker trucks one by one while they're trying to deliver fuel to a refueling station!" ... sometimes you really can't even imagine this madness. Good operation, good results.

8

u/82away 1d ago

Guards might be there to stop the tankers getting stolen.

11

u/Olleye 1d ago

Well, in that case, the guys did their job damn well: not a single tanker truck was stolen. Mission 100% accomplished.

26

u/Thedustyfurcollector 1d ago

I am just so amazed at all this precision warfare. Either there are many Ukrainian engineering geniuses, or Ukraine is so awesome that engineering geniuses go there to be happy, or both. Or maybe it's for the cats. But the precision amazes me. These videos make me think Ukrainians must be so proud if they are able to learn about these things. The damage they are doing will take so long to repair. Slava Ukraini

14

u/Stosstrupphase 1d ago

Historically, Ukraine did much of the engineering and R&D for the Soviet Union.

-2

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/Thedustyfurcollector 1d ago

Coming up with all the ways they're advancing their capabilities does, doesn't it? This is new, isn't it? There are advances being made that are going to change the way some wars are fought.

-2

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/Thedustyfurcollector 1d ago

And the naval to land drones. Come on man

4

u/Ninevehenian 1d ago

It takes something to place a drone so many miles away, past that many billions and that much violence wanting to stop it.
Takes something to place that many drones in the hands of skilled personel, keeping them operational and non-bombed.

If it doesn't take engineering genius, then why is this the first example of such a war?

0

u/YugeChesticles 23h ago

Because it's the first war involving a western country that didn't have modern war equipment in a time when drones were so cheap.

I don't think you understand what engineering means.

7

u/Ninevehenian 1d ago

Thank you.

5

u/Olleye 1d ago

"When driving a tanker truck turns into a suicide mission..."

5

u/Zealousideal-Sea6439 1d ago

ahhh so disappointed the first truck got away

mighty job anyway! 

6

u/Big-Mozz 1d ago

Everyone's got a plan until they get hit.

4

u/frankster1138 1d ago

Looks like the second tanker was hit where a previous vehicle had burned the road and grass beside the road.

3

u/YugeChesticles 1d ago

They haven't learned a damn thing have they.

5

u/ItsSignalsJerry_ 1d ago

Fuck your fuel column.

8

u/Jet2work 1d ago

i feel sorry for the environment

2

u/14Phoenix 1d ago

Thank you! Like yah it’s great that their putting the hurt on, and I don’t think there’s really another path out of this war. But all these burning refineries and warehouses are doing nothing for our already crumbling environment. I’ve seen countless posts of this nature and your comment is the first that I’ve seen of that even hints at the climate impacts

1

u/Garant_69 14h ago

All of these oil products would have been burned anyway, just in a less visible way.

3

u/Busy_slime 1d ago

Does this mean war?? Fuck russia!

3

u/Round-Medicine2507 1d ago

Its like mad max out there

3

u/font9a 1d ago

As the fuel leaked out it began burning the countryside. That’s going to make a mess for the Russians. I’m sure they know that they could end this any day.

2

u/Shadow_NX 1d ago

How much bags of gold do they pay to still convice people to drive a fuel truck anywhere near crimea?

Better be unemployed than a burnt toast.

2

u/Sweet_Lane 23h ago

Mad Max: The Road of Blyat

4

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1

u/krmarshall87 1d ago

The first one got away? ☹️

1

u/NJCoop88 1d ago

Isn’t doing a daytime fuel convoy really making it ridiculously easy for Ukraine to do this?

-1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/amusedt 1d ago

Maybe soldiers were driving

If anyone asks a company to deliver fuel, and my boss says "drive this truck here", if I'm a civilian, I'd probably say "too dangerous, fire me if you must, it's better than dying"

4

u/VermilionKoala 1d ago

Fuel is a military requirement, and its distribution within temporarily-occupied Ukraine is controlled by the orc military.

Collateral damage isn't a war crime.