Ukrainian forces down Russian drone at record altitude

National Guard downs ZALA drone at record altitude

The Russian ZALA Z-20 drone was destroyed at an altitude of 6,400 meters (about 21,000 feet).

According to Pivnenko, the interception set one of Ukraine's records for successfully shooting down an enemy drone.

"In late July, a drone interceptor crew operating in southern Ukraine detected and destroyed this enemy UAV, which is designed for reconnaissance and target detection at ranges exceeding 100 kilometers (62 miles)," the major general said.

He explained that Russian forces had flown the drone to an altitude of nearly 7 kilometers to avoid being hit.

"That did not stop our crew from completing the mission. The pilot caught up with the target and successfully destroyed it," Pivnenko said.

6400 метрів – це три Говерли, якщо поставити їх одна на одну. 6400 метрів пасажирський літак набиратиме протягом перших 10 хвилин польоту.
А ще, 6400 метрів – це висота, на якій гвардійські оператори зенітних дронів з «Lasar's Group» збили російське розвідкрило. Літаємо ще вище! pic.twitter.com/5Pd0j9Avq9

— НГУ (@ng_ukraine) July 29, 2026

He added that the operation once again demonstrated:

• the high level of training of National Guard personnel;
• the effectiveness of modern unmanned systems;
• the ability to carry out combat missions even under the most challenging conditions.

Earlier, on July 16, special forces from the Omega Special Purpose Center of the National Guard destroyed a Russian Su-24M bomber at the Saky military airbase in Russian-occupied Crimea.

In late June, Ukraine's Defense Forces also successfully intercepted Russian Molniya drones equipped with artificial intelligence components for the first time. The targets were destroyed using interceptor drones.