Ukraine’s cutting-edge drone developers have revealed their latest innovation at the Brave1 Defence Tech Valley 2025 exhibition, held at a football stadium in Lviv. Among the highlights is the TOLOKA, a formidable underwater drone designed to take on strategic Russian infrastructure.
Weighing five tonnes with a staggering range of 1,250 miles, the TOLOKA is being considered a serious threat to Russia’s £3 billion Crimean Bridge. The drone comes in three sizes, from four metres to 12 metres in length, and can carry explosive payloads ranging from 500kg to 5,000kg. Analysts believe that the smaller variant may have already been used in June during an attack on the Crimean Bridge, causing significant damage to both road and rail sections.
Experts suggest that the largest model, the TLK-1000, could potentially destroy the bridge entirely. RBC-Ukraine reported that these drones’ five-tonne payloads are capable of reducing large structures to rubble, marking a significant shift in naval and strategic warfare capabilities.
Drones have already reshaped battlefield tactics in Ukraine, allowing precise strikes while minimizing personnel risks. Brigadier General Andriy Lebedenko, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, emphasized that drones “play a major role in the high-precision defeat of the enemy,” and stressed the importance of keeping pace with technological developments to protect both people and territory.
This announcement follows the successful testing of Ukraine’s new long-range missile, the Flamingo. With a six-metre wingspan and weighing six tonnes, the missile carries a one-tonne warhead and can strike targets up to 3,000km away, including key Russian cities such as Moscow and St Petersburg, and even extending into parts of Siberia.
Ukraine’s advancements in drone and missile technology highlight the growing role of high-tech weapons in modern warfare, providing the country with new tools to challenge larger military powers and defend its sovereignty.
What’s going on here? Is it a good idea to be telling the Russians about these developments, or is this merely an example of military propaganda tactics? It’s highly likely that if they did not know already, thanks to a seemingly endless string of announcements about how advanced Ukraine’s weapons are compared to Russia’s, that their enemy will be considering taking even more precautionary measures to defend their precious bridge. Or it could just be a ploy to get the Russians to unnecessarily spend more on defence and less on attack weaponry and reduce spending on other strategic targets. Who knows?
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