Ukrainian Defense Forces Discovered a Drone Likely to Serve as a Repeater for Molniya Strike UAVs

The Ukrainian Defense Forces have shot down a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone, which is likely to serve as a repeater for the Molniya and Lantset strike UAVs.

A video of the downed UAV was published by volunteers of the ZAMPOTECH Charitable Foundation.

“At first, I thought it was a VTOL, as ZALA has one, but no. We read it – it says UAV 25G 12V… That is, it is some kind of non-standard equipment. And the first thoughts I had were that it was guiding the work of Molniya in the border regions, in Kharkiv oblast, somewhere in the 30-kilometer zone,” the volunteer said.

Judging by the video review, the UAV is normally equipped with an optical station, but this drone did not have one. Instead, the drone was equipped with a cheap FPV camera and a Mesh network modem.

This way, the drone served as a repeater for attack drones, presumably of the Molniya and Lancet types. In addition, control over the Mesh network was recorded on drones such as “Gerbera” and “Shahed” equipped with video cameras.

“You see, there should be a gimbal over there. It’s not there. What should it be? There’s a standard mount for it with a vibration coupler… But the camera, see what it is? It’s just an ordinary camera on what they call an FPV cord. And what did it do? It worked as a repeater, or that’s what it is. Those are the retriever antennas – there are two more over there. He was working, guiding the work of Molniya. This is one of the first thoughts, judging by the equipment,” the volunteer said.

Thanks to the markings, the UAV was identified as a 12VVP drone made by 25G. This is a relatively new drone manufacturing company that was established at the end of 2022 in the Primorsky Krai of the Russian Federation.

Russian registers recorded the company’s fulfillment of an order from the Leningrad Region government for the “Department for Ensuring the Civil Defense of the Leningrad Region,” which provides security in emergency situations. Probably, in this way, the drones were purchased at the expense of the regional budget.

A 12VVP drone on Russian marketplaces without an optical station costs about 30 thousand US dollars, with an optical station – about 48 thousand.

The maximum flight range with a typical payload is 150 km, the maximum flight speed is 108 km/h, and the maximum takeoff weight is 18 kg. The maximum flight time with a payload is 1.4 hours, the maximum flight altitude is 3000 m, the payload is 1.1 kg, and the communication range is 30 km.

In December 2025, it became known that Russia had created a reconnaissance version of the Molniya-2 based on a cheap attack drone equipped with a gyro-stabilized camera placed under the fuselage.

The drone has a flight range of approximately 40 km. At the same time, cases of installing Starlink terminals on these drones have been recorded.