{"id":44090,"date":"2022-05-19T16:25:47","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T16:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:14:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:14:29","slug":"russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia claims its Zadira laser weapon destroyed a drone in Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russian armed forces have used a laser weapon against a drone in Ukraine, the Kremlin\u2019s deputy prime minister claimed Wednesday on a local television station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur physicists have developed and are now mass-producing laser systems,\u201d Yuri Borisov said, adding this system used in Ukraine destroyed the drone \u201cwithin five seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the first time Borisov, a senior civilian official who oversees Russia\u2019s defense sector, has said a new weapon was used in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday the claim reflects Moscow\u2019s desire to find an alternative to missiles. According to Zelenskyy, Russia has fired more than 2,000 missiles since the invasion began Feb. 24, with the majority hitting civilian infrastructure and bringing no strategic military benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Borisov seemed to admit as much, noting a laser weapon offers economic advantages to using the expensive missiles fired by its Tor and Pantsir anti-aircraft systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday the U.S. has seen nothing to corroborate Russia\u2019s claims that it used laser weapons in Ukraine. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the U.S. military assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The laser system, which was reportedly on an armored truck, has been dubbed Zadira, which loosely translates to \u201cBully\u201d in English. Defense officials first discussed the weapon during the Army 2017 defense expo in Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry signed a contact in August 2017 with the Russian Federal Nuclear Center for research and development of the Zadira-16. The center, based in Sarov, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, is part of the Rosatom State Atomi\u0441 Energy Corp. and is known for producing the first Soviet-era nuclear bomb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russia also claims to have another laser system in its arsenal, called Peresvet, named after an ancient Russian warrior. Moscow has been tight-lipped about the system, but Borisov noted the main difference between the two is that Peresvet \u201cblinds\u201d an enemy system, whereas Zadira destroys it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russian President Vladimir Putin first discussed the Peresvet in his state of the nation address in March 2018. He said at the time that by creating such complex technology, Russia is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/opinion\/commentary\/2022\/03\/02\/winning-21st-century-wars-requires-directed-energy-capabilities\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cseveral steps ahead\u201d of other countries<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAny armed conflict is used for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/nato-air-power\/2020\/08\/06\/libya-is-turning-into-a-battle-lab-for-air-warfare\/\" target=\"_blank\">testing, etc., of new weapons and equipment<\/a>, either openly or covertly, and the conflict in Ukraine is certainly no exception,\u201d Ruslan Pukhov, head of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies think tank based in Moscow, told Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the ongoing war, Ukraine has used Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones, which have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/video\/2022\/03\/21\/how-a-turkish-drone-became-the-star-of-the-ukrainian-defense-actionable-intelligence\/\" target=\"_blank\">proved effective against Russian tanks<\/a>. Russia\u2019s response to the TB2 fleet is its Okhotnik combat drone, expected for delivery to the Russian military by 2023, Sergey Chemezov, the head of defense conglomerate Rostec, told Putin on May 18 during a televised meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the claim reflects Moscow\u2019s desire to find an alternative to missiles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":82738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":12,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,23,93,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1846],"class_list":["post-44090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"K4C5QMIWTVEJPCO2PBWM4NZAI4","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Russia claims its Zadira laser weapon destroyed a drone in Ukraine - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the claim reflects Moscow\u2019s desire to find an alternative to missiles.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Russia claims its Zadira laser weapon destroyed a drone in Ukraine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the claim reflects Moscow\u2019s desire to find an alternative to missiles.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Army Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-19T16:25:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T23:14:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/19\\\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/19\\\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Russia claims its Zadira laser weapon destroyed a drone in Ukraine\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2022-05-19T16:25:47+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T23:14:29+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/19\\\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 471,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/19\\\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-1239738976.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Middle Column\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Your Army\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/19\\\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/19\\\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/19\\\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Russia claims its Zadira laser weapon destroyed a drone in Ukraine - Army Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/19\\\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/19\\\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-1239738976.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2022-05-19T16:25:47+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T23:14:29+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the claim reflects Moscow\u2019s desire to find an alternative to missiles.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/19\\\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/19\\\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/19\\\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-1239738976.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-1239738976.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/19\\\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"News\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"news\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Russia claims its Zadira laser weapon destroyed a drone in Ukraine\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Army Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News For Soldiers | Army Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Army Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/army-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/army-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Army Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Russia claims its Zadira laser weapon destroyed a drone in Ukraine - Army Times","description":"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the claim reflects Moscow\u2019s desire to find an alternative to missiles.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Russia claims its Zadira laser weapon destroyed a drone in Ukraine","og_description":"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the claim reflects Moscow\u2019s desire to find an alternative to missiles.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/","og_site_name":"Army Times","article_published_time":"2022-05-19T16:25:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-07T23:14:29+00:00","author":"Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Staff","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Russia claims its Zadira laser weapon destroyed a drone in Ukraine","datePublished":"2022-05-19T16:25:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T23:14:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/"},"wordCount":471,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1239738976.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Home","Middle Column","News","Newsletters","Your Army"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/","name":"Russia claims its Zadira laser weapon destroyed a drone in Ukraine - Army Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1239738976.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2022-05-19T16:25:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T23:14:29+00:00","description":"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the claim reflects Moscow\u2019s desire to find an alternative to missiles.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1239738976.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1239738976.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2022\/05\/19\/russia-claims-its-zadira-laser-weapon-destroyed-a-drone-in-ukraine\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/","ad_zone":"news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Russia claims its Zadira laser weapon destroyed a drone in Ukraine"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/","name":"Army Times","description":"Independent News For Soldiers | Army Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#organization","name":"Army Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/army-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/army-logo-white.png","caption":"Army Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1239738976.jpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Army Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44090"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44091,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44090\/revisions\/44091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44090"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=44090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}