Russia Using American Trucks to Launch Deadly Kamikaze Drone Strikes on Ukraine Cities: Report

Russia is reportedly equipping American-made trucks to launch deadly kamikaze drone strikes on Ukrainian cities, according to a new report.

A modified Ram 1500 pickup truck could be seen in a July 20 video by Zvezda, a state TV channel controlled by the country’s defense ministry, firing kamikaze drones, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Four more trucks with the same feature were later seen in the video showing off the Tatarstan region drone factory, although a source told the outlet that launching drones from pickup trucks was not common.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Stellantis, who owns Ram Trucks, paused all exports to Russia after sanctions were implemented on the country. However, between February 2022 and September 2024, 130 Michigan-made Ram 1500 trucks ended up in the country.

The majority of these exports are believed to have come about through a tactic called “transshipment,” which is when a company direct sales through a country that is not participating in the sanctions.

Several companies based in the United Arab Emirates, who was not involved in the sanctions on Russia, allegedly rerouted sales of the American trucks through the country to sell to private Russian companies. From there, the trucks could be sold anywhere in Russia.

While companies could be able to continue sales in sanction-restricted countries with a special license, Alex Bashinsky, a co-founder at the Global Sanctions Training Institute and member of the International Working Group on Russian Sanctions, told the outlet that they are “hard to obtain.”

No companies reached out to by Kyiv Independent explicitly stated they had the required license.

An intel report from earlier this month revealed that Russia’s kamikaze drones are set to multiply in number to use in its war against Ukraine, with the number Shahed-136s, the most common explosive-carrying drone used by Russia, reportedly up exponentially.

On Thursday, at least 33 people were injured in an attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine, which officials from the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office said may have involved a new weapon developed by Russia, UMPB-5 bombs, though this remains unconfirmed.

Originally published on Latin Times