The Russians’ inability to produce heavy bomber drones has led to the creation of an entire network for repairing downed Ukrainian VAMPIRE drones.
Canadian OSINT analyst Roy discovered a Russian catalog of 3D-printed spare parts for this drone.
In Russia, Ukrainian heavy bomber drones are called Baba Yaga.
For the invaders, this drone is valuable, as only the VAMPIRE allows them to deliver heavy munitions to targets.
Russia’s homegrown spare-parts industry for captured VAMPIRE drones started to grow in 2024.
This is because the Russian defense industry is unable to supply the army with heavy multicopters.
In the workshops, they are working on flight stability, software algorithms, navigation control channels, and the replacement of damaged parts.
Captured Ukrainian VAMPIRE drones, rather than Russia’s own heavy drones, continue to be the subject of separate news stories in Russia’s federal media.
On May 5, RIA Novosti published a report stating that captured Baba Yaga hexacopters in the Sumy region are delivering supplies to the front lines.
The Russian military also shared with the Russian media that over 20 captured Baba Yaga-type heavy drones are being used in the Kherson region.
For Ukraine, SkyFall’s VAMPIRE drone bomber became the most effective weapon on the front lines in 2025. The bombers performed over 2.5 million combat missions.
The drone was standardized in the spring of 2023 and has been actively supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine since then. This hexacopter can carry a payload of up to 15 kg over a distance of tens of kilometers.
