Dozens of Russian drones are being launched from US-manufactured Ram trucks to wreak havoc on Ukrainian civilians, video footage suggest.
Russian missile and drone strikes against Ukraine have risen by 605% in the last six months,according to NBC, with more than 23,000 launched.
At the weekend, Vladimir Putin authorised another massive assault against Ukraine featuring Shahed drones, Kalibr cruise missiles and the hypersonic Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles, killing two.
Ukraine’s air force estimated the barrage saw the launch of 426 drones and 24 missiles, with 23 drones hitting their target across the country.
The escalation comes in the wake of US President Donald Trump issuing a 50-day ultimatum to Putin, urging him to stop the war in Ukraine or face “very severe” tariffs, though Russian officials have labelled the demand “theatrical”.
Two Russian propaganda videos have now been broadcast on state media channel Zvezda to highlight the country’s military drone warfare capabilities, focusing on the Geran-2 suicide drone and its in-house variation of Iran’s Shahed-136.
The seemingly American-made Ram 1500s are spotted in the second of these videos, appearing to operate as a mobile drone launch pad. The other video details the inside of the Yelabuga factory in Tatarstan, more than 1,300 km from Ukraine, which produces more than 5,000 Geran-2 drones a month.
Adding to this, images uploaded to pro-Russian Telegram channels appear to confirm fleets of Ram, formerly Dodge Ram, vehicles sporting the Shahed drones being used to strike Ukrainian cities.
One such image, which has been seen by more than 140,000 users, is captioned: “A Ram 1500 pickup truck equipped with a launch rail for the Geranium-2 and Harpia-A1 kamikaze drones.”
Plenty of other images or videos showcasing the customised Ram trucks have been shared on the encrypted messaging platform.
Ram Trucks, which produces the 1500 model, a division of the multi-national Stellantis, reportedly manufactures at the 5-million-square-foot Sterling Heights Assembly in Michigan.
It is unknown how so many of these vehicles were distributed to what appears to be Russia, despite extensive sanctions and regulations restricting this.
Many prominent military update channels on social media, including the @Osinttechnical account on X, formerly Twitter, which has more than 1million followers, to whom they asked: “Genuine question, how are so many Stellantis-manufactured new model Ram 1500 trucks ending up in Russian service, especially as platforms to launch Shahed attack drones at Ukraine?”
Military analysts have estimated that Russia may soon be able to launch between 1,000 and 2,000 drones a day towards Ukraine in an attempt to overwhelm the defending nation as frontline gains grind to a halt.