Russian military sources are claiming that Ukrainian forces have begun using upgraded tactical drones equipped with artificial intelligence systems that can reportedly guide themselves toward human targets by recognizing facial contours and heat signatures. The claim has not been independently verified.

A pro-war Russian military channel, “Dva Mayora,” alleged that the new drones show signs of autonomous targeting based on facial outlines and a thermal profile allegedly loaded into the UAV’s onboard systems.

“Attention. The enemy has begun using updated tactical drones with combat artificial intelligence. There are signs of auto-guidance on facial contours and the corresponding heat signature loaded into the ‘brains’ of the UAV,” the blogger wrote.

A Ukrainian OSINT channel commenting on footage of the alleged strike offered a different interpretation, suggesting the system may have been a drone fitted with a directional explosive charge rather than a fully autonomous face-recognition weapon.

“Look, a drone with a directed detonation. It flew up and fired accurately from about 10 meters,” the channel wrote.

The reported appearance of smarter tactical drones comes as Ukraine continues expanding both drone technology and operator training. Separately, a Ukrainian drone training center has adapted Grand Theft Auto V into a custom FPV simulator designed to help pilots practice urban combat scenarios.

The project, called Seek & Destroy, is based on the original PC version of GTA V Legacy, which developers modified to simulate FPV drone operations in a dense city-like environment. According to WeTrueGun, the simulator is used as an additional training tool alongside standard civilian and military drone simulators.

“What you see in the video is not a military simulator in the classical sense. In fact, the project is based on GTA V Legacy—the original version of Grand Theft Auto V for PC,” the training center said in a statement published on Telegram.

Earlier, Ukrainian unmanned systems operators used FP-1/2 strike drones equipped with unguided aviation rockets to attack a protected communications facility linked to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in temporarily occupied Crimea.

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