Putin planning fleet of WW1-style BLIMPS in desperate bid to protect against Ukraine’s crippling kamikaze drone blitzes

PUTIN is poised to launch airships in a bizarre plan to halt kamikaze drones deployed by Ukraine aimed at Russian targets.

The aim is to use multiple mini airships to raise giant nets in the path of incoming drones which are spotted by radar.

The UAVs, or drones, are then caught by the netting before hitting their target.

The blueprint has been designed by a Russian airship company after an appeal by Putin’s regime for technology to counter Ukrainian drones which have caused major damage to both military and industrial sites.

Called the "Barrier," the unmanned airships - like giant balloons - are connected to the ground enabling swift adjustments in height.

The netting - hanging below the airships - is released to the ground when the drones become entangled and any explosion is seen as harmless.
  For now, the Barrier airships can operate at around 1,000ft.

The aim would be to position them around known likely targets.

Polina Albek, general director of the company that developed the scheme, First Airship JSC, said: “Our main activity is the creation of cargo airships.

“Today, relying on the experience of our ancestors, we have created the Barrier protection system [from drones].

“The maximum load on a balloon reaches 30 kilograms.”

She said the idea came from the use of airships in the First World War for air defence purposes.

A video highlighting how the system is envisaged to work was unveiled at a conference - Technologies for detecting and countering UAV - in St. Petersburg.

This comes shortly after Ukraine reportedly blew up yet another Russian naval vessel in a kamikaze sea drone strike off annexed Crimea.

The shadowy figure of a tugboat crew member was seen in black and white video before the drone sped towards the vessel and the video lost connection.

Kyiv has been targeting Vladimir Putin's Black Sea Fleet ever since the tyrant launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine is looking to reverse Putin's 2014 annexation of Crimea, which currently serves as Moscow's central logistics hub for Russian forces in southern Ukraine.

Video of Kyiv's night-time drone blitz, shared by Ukrainian intelligence today, purportedly showed the moment Kyiv's forces destroyed a Russian tugboat.

Moments before the blitz, at which point the video lost connection, a crew member appeared to walk along the deck of the boat.

Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) spokesperson Andriy Yusov said during a national broadcast: "Maritime strike.

"All hits on target. Minus one more enemy ship."

The GUR said one of its units successfully attacked and destroyed a Russian "Saturn" tugboat.

A Saturn is an all-purpose Russian sea tug vital for logistical support.

The drone was understood to have evaded sea barriers to sail into a salt lake on the northwestern coast and mount its attack.

Almost half of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet have been hit by Ukrainian drone or missile strikes during the two-year-old war.