Border guards landed a Russian Kartograph UAV in the Kharkiv region

16 May, 2023 The downed Russian Kartograph UAV, May 2023. Photo credits: State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Recently in the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian border guards discovered an enemy unmanned aerial vehicle that crossed the state border and flew deep into the territory of Ukraine.

After that, border guards landed the Russian drone using special technical means. It turned out to be a Kartograph reconnaissance drone designed for taking pictures of ground objects and creating terrain plans. The Press Service of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported this.

Ukrainian border guards demonstrated the aircraft, which fell to the ground and did not suffer significant damage, with only the vertical stabilizers breaking off on the tail part. The Russian Kartograph UAV has a camera with 12 lenses. Such cameras are a characteristic feature of these Russian reconnaissance drones.

The downed Russian Kartograph UAV, May 2023.

Photo credits: State Border Guard Service of Ukraine

The Russian invaders are trying to conduct aerial reconnaissance and prepare for missile, air, or artillery strikes on Ukraine. For this, the Russians are using unmanned aerial vehicles in various modifications. The Kartograph drone is designed for panoramic aerial photo and video recording with the possibility of real-time transmission of the collected information to the control post.

The Kartograph UAV is immensely similar to the Orlan family of aircraft, but it has a number of differences and the characteristic blue color. This is not a unique case of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shooting down this Russian drone. The previous incident of the Kartograph drone downing took place in the Dnipropetrovsk region on the afternoon of May 3.

The drone was intercepted in the Mykolaivka area of the Dnipro district.

Wreckage of the downed Russian Kartograph UAV, May 6, 2023. Photo credits: Air Command East

Also, on May 6, the air defense of Ukraine shot down the Russian Kartograph reconnaissance drone in the area of Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The Ukrainian military has also been neutralizing these enemy drones in various directions before.

Russian Kartograph UAV shot down over Ukraine, September 2022.

Photo credits: Ukrainian Air Force

The Russian invasion forces use this UAV for reconnaissance to adjust artillery fire or missile strikes.