Information from the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine after the ‘dissection’ of a Russian V2U drone

Russians are now mass-launching new V2U strike drones that can autonomously detect and engage targets without an operator, relying not on GPS but on “computer vision.” These drones were first spotted in the Sumy region back in February, and by May, Ukrainian forces were recording up to 500 nightly attacks by such UAVs.

These devices can carry up to 3.5 kg of combat payload, including shaped-charge high-explosive munitions like the KOFZBCh type. Their speed and range vary depending on the configuration — from electric motors to internal combustion engines — and some versions can travel over 100 km.

Production of these drones is skyrocketing: while Russia produced about 15,000 long-range UAVs in 2024, the number exceeded 30,000 in 2025. Up to 70 are now manufactured daily — increasingly used in “swarms,” where multiple V2Us attack a single target simultaneously.

Specialists from the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR) have set out to neutralize the threat. In collaboration with analysts from War&Sanctions, they intercepted debris from a V2U UAV and “unpacked” the enemy’s innovation down to the last transistor. It turned out that the V2U is not a product of advanced Russian technology but a carefully assembled structure made from international components — often sourced from open markets.

The drone’s central computing unit is a Chinese Leetop A203 or A603 minicomputer, powered by an American NVIDIA Jetson Orin processor. This module enables the drone to analyze video in real time, compare imagery with a preloaded terrain database, and autonomously lock onto a target.

Despite having a GPS module, the V2U relies very little on satellite navigation. Due to the effectiveness of Ukrainian electronic warfare systems, which actively jam GPS signals, the drone instead uses visual orientation: a combination of a camera, LiDAR, and a preloaded map. This setup requires significant data storage capacity — which is why the drone contains a 128 GB SSD.

Additionally, the V2U is equipped with an FPV module operating over LTE — specifically, a Microdrive Tandem‑4GS‑OEM‑11 modem using a Ukrainian SIM card. This allows the operator to intervene during the flight if needed, although technically, the V2U does not require human input to find and strike a target.

The gathered intelligence is just the tip of the iceberg — but Ukrainian defence intelligence chose to dig deeper.HUR managed to identify almost all the drone’s hardware components: Chinese electric motors, ESCs, storage drives, servos, MOSFET transistors, and batteries. The UAV is packed with Western-made technology: it features a Japanese Sony IMX477 image sensor, an Irish TE Connectivity relay, a Swiss STM32 microcontroller, a Taiwanese motion controller, and a U.S.-made Intel AC 8265 Wi-Fi module. The drones themselves are assembled and supplied by two Russian and two Chinese companies.

This investigation revealed a disturbing reality: Russia is not only ignoring international sanctions — it is actively building procurement routes to bypass them. The modules used in the V2U are freely available for purchase on AliExpress, typically labeled as “consumer” or “educational” — but in practice, they are turned into weapons of war.

This highlights the selective effectiveness of sanctions, the weakness of export controls, and the fact that many companies supplying chips, sensors, and controllers either don’t know — or pretend not to know — where their products ultimately end up.

This is a clear message for Ukraine’s partners: it’s not enough to simply provide weapons — there must also be proactive efforts to prevent those same technologies from reaching the enemy. That’s why these kinds of “unpackings” are not just tedious work with debris — they are vital long-term strategic efforts.

Alexandr Kochetkov