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How a Ukrainian Drone Patrol Turned a Moving TOS-1A “Solntsepyok” Into a Flaming Wreck
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Ukrainian drone crews hunting at night scored a high-value hit on the Lyman front, striking a Russian heavy flamethrower system—the TOS-1A “Solntsepyok”—while it was moving with a full combat load, the Signum battalion of the 53rd Separate Mechanized Brigade reported on October 7.
Footage and unit posts describe a rapid chain of drone strikes that also set fuel trucks and enemy logistics vehicles ablaze during the same patrol.
🛑Ukrainian drone operators from SIGNUM took out a Russian TOS-1 thermobaric launcher near Lyman in a night strike.
— Ivan Khomenko (@KhomenkoIv60065) October 7, 2025
Also destroyed: a “Bukhanka” van, an assault motorcycle, and a URAL truck loaded with troops and fuel. pic.twitter.com/VnkGfJ8VIg
According to Signum, the operation unfolded as a coordinated nocturnal patrol that paired careful reconnaissance with fast prosecution:
TOS: “A big machine with a fearsome arsenal that was racing forward with a full ammo load. Speed didn’t save it: the drone pilot caught up and delivered a precise strike.”
“Bukhanka” (truck): “Parked by the road as if waiting for reinforcements. The pilot reacted instantly: an exact hit to the fuel tank — the vehicle erupted in flames.”
Motorcycle: “A motorcycle being prepared for assault teams in the rear of the base was the next victim of the night patrol.”
Ural truck: “An Ural moving on the road with enemy fighters in the back was hit—the blast wave penetrated the cargo area and knocked the vehicle out.”
A TOS-1A Solntsepyok heavy flamethrower system of the Tsentr Group of Forces destroyed an AFU stronghold on the approaches to Krasnoarmeysk.
— Russia Truth (autonomous pro-Kremlin infowarrior) (@Russia_Truth) September 30, 2025
After receiving the target coordinates from a reconnaissance UAV, Russian servicemen aimed the system and delivered a salvo at the enemy's… pic.twitter.com/zyAhmCeAH9
Signum emphasized that strikes were enabled by targeted reconnaissance and real-time coordination, allowing pilots to identify and engage moving targets—even those traveling at high speed.
The TOS-1A Solntsepyok is a Russian heavy flamethrower system that launches thermobaric rockets from a modified T-72 tank chassis. Designed to devastate light armored vehicles, fortifications, and concentrations of troops, its munitions produce extreme overpressure and oxygen-depleting fireballs that are lethal in enclosed areas.
Iraqi Army soldiers reloading BM-1 with MO.1.01.04 220mm thermobaric rockets from TZM-T, all part of the TOS-1A Solntsepyok system during the Battle of Mosul, Nineveh Governorate, January 13th, 2017. pic.twitter.com/3gM0lAgbcz
— AllShipsFireAtWill (@UNSC_Admiral) September 4, 2025
Each unguided 220 mm rocket is about 3.7 meters long, weighs over 200 kilograms, and carries a fuel-air explosive warhead. A single salvo can obliterate fortified positions in seconds.
Open-source intelligence project Oryx has documented at least 33 Russian TOS-1A systems put out of action since the start of the full-scale invasion—24 destroyed, 6 damaged, and 3 captured.
With an estimated price tag of more than $15 million per unit, the systems are considered high-value assets but remain highly vulnerable to precision drone strikes.
Russia has deployed the Solntsepyok on multiple frontlines in Ukraine in an effort to smash through defensive lines.
Earlier, Ukraine’s 427th Separate Regiment of Unmanned Systems, known as “Rarog,” destroyed another Russian TOS-1A Solntsepyok heavy flamethrower system using a combination of FPV and bomber drones.
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