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Ukraine Takes Out Rare Russian “Zemledelie” System—One of Moscow’s Most Dangerous Mine-Layers
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Drones operated by the 27th Pechersk Brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard have destroyed a Russian ISDM “Zemledelie” remote mining vehicle, National Guard Commander Oleksandr Pivnenko announced, releasing a video of the strike on August 26.
He noted the system was detected on a frontline sector in the Zaporizhzhia direction, where Russian forces had deployed it to rapidly create minefields.
“Thanks to the coordinated actions of our soldiers, the Russian invaders have lost yet another engineering system for remote mining, the ISDM ‘Zemledelie,’” Pivnenko wrote.
The video shows the heavy vehicle moving along a road in occupied territory before it came under attack. A National Guard bomber drone began dropping munitions on the machine while it was still in motion.
Russian Zemledeliye minelayer system with all sorts of Anti-FPV protection in Donetsk Oblast, Eastern Ukraine, Summer 2025 period. pic.twitter.com/BMFi7IznBC
— B-AREV (@trip_to_valkiri) July 29, 2025
Direct hits triggered explosions that forced the vehicle to a halt in the middle of the road. The crew either fled or took cover nearby.
Another drone then closed in, delivering further precise strikes directly onto the launcher pack containing specialized rockets equipped with scatterable mines.
After several hits, the ammunition caught fire and detonated, leading to the system’s destruction.
The “Zemledelie” is a combat vehicle built on an armored KamAZ 8×8 chassis, fitted with two launch modules carrying 25 rockets each. Its primary purpose is to rapidly lay minefields across areas between 5 and 15 kilometers away.
The system fires 122mm solid-fuel rockets carrying a variety of mines, functioning similarly to cluster munitions dropped from aircraft.
On July 9, 2025, another Zemiedeliye was destroyed by UA REG TEAM utilizing FPV drones.
Destruction of a rare remote mining engineering system "Zemledeliye".
— Slava 🇺🇦 (@Heroiam_Slava) July 9, 2025
Work - SSO unit UA_REG TEAM. pic.twitter.com/XKKdqJuFAx
A single salvo of 50 rockets can blanket an area the size of several football fields with mines, making it a serious threat during mobile battles.
Developed by the Russian defense firm NPO “Splav,” the ISDM integrates satellite navigation, onboard computers, and a weather station to adjust fire trajectories. After a launch, it automatically records the mined zones on a digital map and transmits the data to higher command levels.
The full complex includes the combat vehicle, a resupply and loading truck, and transport-launch containers for the rockets.
Experts note the system’s effectiveness lies in its ability to instantly deny Ukrainian forces maneuver space. Clearing areas seeded by “Zemledelie” is especially difficult because the technical specifications of its mines remain poorly understood.
Earlier, the Ukrainian 102nd Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces took out one of Russia’s rare battlefield weapons—the TOS-1A “Solntsepyok” heavy flamethrower system—using a first-person-view (FPV) drone.
