Friendly Birds Ensure Shahed Drone Base Destroyed in Donetsk

November 6, 2025November 7, 2025

Ornithologists believe that by November, all migratory birds in our latitudes fly far south to safely overwinter. This year, they observe the opposite trend. Even in November, some birds head south — to temporarily occupied Crimea, Tuapse, and other places. But most importantly, the majority of birds fly north or northeast. Because these birds have different, sometimes completely different designs, ornithologists gathered them into one group. They called it “friendly birds.” And last night, these friendly birds ensured a Shahed drone base destroyed in spectacular fashion.

Yesterday we got official and unofficial reports about where these birds flew and where they decided to build warm, albeit noisy, nests. First, the official statement from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine:

On the night of November 5, 2025, units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine struck a storage, assembly, and launch base for Shahed-type UAVs in temporarily occupied Donetsk (Donetsk airport territory). According to objective control data, explosions and powerful secondary detonation were recorded at the facility. The task was performed by units of the Rocket Forces and Artillery, Unmanned Systems Forces (414th Brigade), and Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Later, Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces, confirmed the strike in his characteristic manner:

F*ck off! Storage, assembly and launch base for Shaheds (Donetsk Airport, temporarily occupied territory). Was.

Joint operation of SOF, Rocket Forces & Artillery, and brigade recon of the 414th USF “Madyar’s Birds”.

The development of this complex target turned into a months-long, painstaking reconnaissance operation — pieced together from countless tiny fragments. Tonight, it was executed with precision by the SOF and Rocket Forces of Ukraine’s Defense Forces.

Eyes and Sting — the vile worm’s nightmare.

The Blast That Shook Donetsk

The Network already flooded with videos of the birds’ work at this location. Many have probably already seen it. Even the local population rates the strike as very successful. Glaziers got urgent work within several kilometers. The explosion itself had such force that no weapons system of the Armed Forces could provide it. This means that ammunition stored at the hit location really detonated.

Our military knew where they were hitting. They considered it possible to identify the target. So we can only imagine how many “Shaheds” were brought there to bang so powerfully. Although it’s possible that this was a storage place not only for drones but also for something like shells or mines. In any case, the primary explosion turned out so powerful, and its appearance so spectacular, that it’s hard to see the multiple repeated detonation of individual ammunition behind it. Some pieces lagged behind to participate in the general explosion but then decided not to fall behind the collective. But if you look carefully at such videos, you can still make out something like that.

Tons of Explosives

At the time of the strike, over a thousand devices and one and a half thousand warheads for them were there. Considering that the enemy mostly uses second-iteration drones with a 50 kg warhead, a simple recalculation of warhead mass and quantity declared by our specialists gives 75 tons ready for detonation. Obviously, neither the Armed Forces nor the enemy have conventional ammunition with such warhead mass. Therefore, that epic explosion, which probably everyone has already seen, was provided precisely by the “Shaheds.” Ironically, the most powerful explosion they could perform turned out to be at their own base.

How the Strike Unfolded

The logic of events should look as follows. Since the Special Operations Forces stated that during this attack 90% of our ammunition landed exactly on target, most likely targets that don’t give secondary detonation were hit first. These include fuel storage, communications, command posts, and other facilities. After this, strikes hit the warehouse. Maybe not from the first attempt, but they managed to reach the “ammunition cellar”. After that, everything flew high into the sky. That’s exactly how our friendly birds ensured the Shahed drone base destroyed — spectacularly and efficiently. Most likely, we won’t hear about drone launches from Donetsk in air defense reports for a long time.