• Ukrainian forces decimated a Russian column of 11 tanks and armored vehicles.

• Ukraine heavily relied on FPV attack drones to obliterate the Russian armor.

• Russian military bloggers are increasingly frustrated by Russia's perceived tactical blunders.

Ukrainian forces deployed FPV attack drones to help obliterate an entire column of Russian armored vehicles, Metro reports.

Video appears to show Ukraine exploding drones, finishing off 11 tanks and armored vehicles. It included three T-72 tanks, five tracked amphibious [MTLBS] armored fighting vehicles, and an infantry fighting vehicle, reduced to burning hulks scattered across the battlefield.

Two tracked armored fighting vehicles were also destroyed, one by an anti-tank guided missile, Metro reported.

The battle raged near the settlement of Novomykhailivka, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, which Russia has been attempting to capture since October.

The assault was captured by cameras mounted on the attacking drones and those flying overhead, showing the devastation caused to the Russian column.

The convoy was maneuvering near the front lines along the east of Ukraine and became vulnerable to fire from artillery and swift and targeted strikes from the air by drones.

Leveling Russia's battlefield advantage

Footage shows the FPV exploding drones accelerating toward the Russian tanks and armored vehicles, with the feed abruptly cutting off just before impact.

Other footage gives a panoramic view, showing the dark shapes of tanks in motion, some bursting into flames as the exploding drones hit, followed by an aftermath of smoking, twisted wrecks abandoned in winter fields pockmarked with shell holes.

The video was dated January 30. According to reports, the battle lasted nearly two and a half hours.

Business Insider could not independently verify the video.

The apparent victory against the armored column matters because Ukraine increasingly sees relatively inexpensive drone technology as a way of leveling Russia's battlefield advantage.

Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, wrote on Thursday for CNN News that with accelerated technical innovations, the nature of war had changed.

He highlighted the key role played by unmanned weapons systems, such as drones, which help Ukraine against Putin's forces despite Russia's significant superiority of manpower and weapons.

FPV drones are an effective and low-cost weapon employed by both Russia and Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion.

"Perhaps the number one priority here is mastery of an entire arsenal of (relatively) cheap, modern, and highly effective unmanned vehicles and other technological means.

Already such assets allow commanders to monitor the situation on the battlefield in real time, day and night, and in all weather conditions," wrote Ukraine's top military leader.

'Complete stupidity and incompetence'

While the number of casualties from the wrecked armored column remains unknown, the strikes triggered a backlash among pro-war 'Z' channels associated with Putin, expressing frustration over perceived military incompetence, Metro reports.

Russian military bloggers have become increasingly frustrated by the Russian military's tactics. Russian forces continue self-sabotage by gathering in large groups to attack Ukrainian positions, making them an easy target for Ukrainian drones.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US think tank, said one Russian military blogger expressed dismay at Russian forces' tactics at "complete stupidity and incompetence."

Another Kremlin-affiliated milblogger argued that the Russian military command needs to stop attacking in mechanized columns due to repeated high equipment losses.

The milblogger also criticized the military leadership for failing to account for Ukrainian drone operations and to equip Russian armored vehicles with electronic warfare systems, reported the ISW.

Ukraine, after nearly two years of war, has called on the West to bolster its defenses. The increased use of drone attacks, that have reached targets as far afield as Moscow and Saint Petersburg, has become a strategic focus for Ukraine.

"It's a war of armor against projectiles. At the moment, projectiles are winning," Gleb Molchanov, a Ukrainian drone operator, told The Guardian.

Russian commanders are being accused of 'complete stupidity and incompetence' for failing to plan for drone attacks

• Russian military bloggers criticized Russian tactics in Ukraine, a US think tank said.

• They said Russian troops continue to gather in large groups, enabling drones to target them.

• Ukraine has used drones to counter Russia's manpower and equipment advantages.

Russian troops are continuing to gather in large groups to attack Ukrainian positions despite it making them an easy target for drones, Russian milbloggers said, according to a report.

The Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, said that influential Russian milbloggers were expressing frustration at tactical blunders by the Russian military.

According to the critics, Russia is forming groups of armored vehicles and troops to attack Ukrainian positions that are easily blown up from the air by exploding drones, said the ISW.

The think tank cited one Russian milblogger who it said questioned how commanders could fail to account for Ukrainian drones and afford to lose so much manpower, accusing them of "complete stupidity and incompetence."

It's not the first time they've made the complaint in recent weeks, but frustration at the apparent lack of planning appears to have grown.

It matters because it provides insight into the tactical mistakes that have repeatedly impacted Russia's Ukraine invasion, causing huge casualties and equipment losses. It also shows how cheap airborne drones have been deployed by Ukraine in a highly effective way.

Russia's milbloggers have been an important source of independent information about Russia's military, repeatedly criticizing what they claim to be tactical errors by its commanders.

Russia and Ukraine are in a stalemate, with the militaries dug into hundreds of miles of defensive positions. In recent weeks, Russia has tried to take advantage of low Ukrainian ammunition stocks and waning Western support in attempting to break through Ukraine's defenses, but with little success, resulting in steep casualties.

Ukraine has used cheap airborne drones to surveil the battlefield and blow up targets, mitigating Russia's manpower and equipment advantages and making the type of massive attack necessary for getting past defenses very difficult.

Ukraine's top commander, in a CNN op-ed Thursday, said Ukraine could seize an advantage in the war through innovation and new technology.

 Ukraine downs 11 of 24 Russian drones launched overnight

Ukrainian air defense destroyed 11 of the 24 Shahed-type drones Russia launched from Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia and from Chauda in Russian-occupied Crimea, the Air Force reported on Feb. 2.

Since the start of the full-scale war, the Russian military has been using Crimea and other occupied Ukrainian territories to launch missiles and other weapons against Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Air Force reported that at least seven Russian drones failed to reach their targets and were lost in the area.

Some 11 Russian drones were intercepted over Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Kirovohrad, and Kharkiv oblasts overnight. Reportedly, most of them targeted critical infrastructure in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

The Russian military attacked the Kryvyi Rih district in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with three drones, causing a power outage that affected thousands of consumers, as well as two mines, Governor Serhii Lysak said.

According to Vilkul, around 100,000 consumers initially lost electricity due to the attack. The Energy Ministry said at around 10 a.m. local time that problems with energy supply had been solved.

All the 113 miners who were trapped underground had been brought to the surface, Vilkul said.

Russia also shelled the Marhanets and Myrove communities in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast’s Nikopol district. There were no casualties reported.

In Kharkiv Oblast, Russian troops attacked 17 settlements, damaging residential buildings, houses, agricultural enterprises, and power lines, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Engineers restored the power supply for over 1,600 consumers in the Bohodukhiv district. Some 15,600 accounting points in 64 settlements remain without power.

Russia forces launched 279 attacks on Kherson Oblast over the past day, killing two people and injuring six, Governor Oleksandr Produkin said. The city of Kherson was fired at 26 times.

The city of Kropyvnytskyi and the adjacent district in Kirovohrad Oblast also suffered from Russian drone strikes overnight. According to Governor Andrii Raikovych, there were no casualties.