Ukrainian drone destroys Pantsir on Russian ‘Flakturm’

A Ukrainian drone has destroyed a Russian Pantsir air defense system on top of a “Flakturm,” one of the purpose-built anti-aircraft towers Russia has been putting up to stop Ukrainian drones, according to new footage released by the Security Service of Ukraine’s Alpha special operations unit.

The video shows the strike on the elevated platform, which Russia built to raise the air defense system above trees and terrain. The Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, did not say where or when the strike took place, what type of drone was used, or whether the tower itself was destroyed along with the Pantsir.

The towers are widely nicknamed Flakturms after the Flaktürme, the massive concrete anti-aircraft towers Nazi Germany built to defend Berlin, Hamburg and Vienna from Allied bombers during World War II. Russia’s use of them became public in September 2023, when state television channel Russia-24 broadcast footage of Pantsir systems mounted on metal towers around Moscow.

Russia places air defense systems on these raised platforms to give their radars a clearer view of low-flying drones and to extend the distance at which they can spot targets. Ground-based radars have trouble seeing small drones that fly close to the ground or behind obstacles, and lifting the system several meters higher helps the radar look over them. The tradeoff is that a tower cannot move. Once its position is known, Ukrainian drone units can plan precision strikes against a target that will still be there when the drone arrives.

The Pantsir is a truck-mounted short-range air defense system that combines a radar, surface-to-air missiles and twin 30 mm cannons. It is one of the main systems Russia uses to shoot down drones and cruise missiles, and Ukrainian forces have made it a priority target. SBU head Vasyl Malyuk said in late 2025 that Ukraine had destroyed 48% of Russia’s Pantsir systems since the start of that year, adding that Russia builds about 30 a year, fewer than Ukraine was destroying.

The strike adds to a series of Ukrainian attacks on Russian air defenses this month. Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces hit another Pantsir-S1 near Kudepsta in Russia’s Krasnodar region on Oct. 8 and into Oct. 9, and Ukrainian FP-2 strike drones destroyed a Pantsir-S2 earlier in October, according to footage published online.