A new video released by Ukrainian armed forces shows the destruction and overwhelming capabilities of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones currently in use on the Russian front. The video follows a drone as it hovers over a doomed Russian tank and drops an explosive device through the tank’s open hatch (the hatch is often left open to help operators navigate due to the narrow viewports installed on tanks).
The shocking video demonstrates the precision and capabilities of a modern Army, but the real question is: are we moving into a world where war is what’s streaming this weekend?
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The horrors of war are now streaming regularly on YouTube
While the Vietnam War was the first conflict to find its way into American homes in close-to-real-time, it was the Iraq War in 2003 that most adults remember as a “live conflict.” Who can forget the helicopters close in on Baghdad raining hellfire on the city, live on CNN?
Today, however, we are in entirely new territory. As the US and Ukrainian intelligence forces drip new footage of Russian servicemen humiliating themselves (some leaks are legitimate, and some are obviously intended to have an effect on the Russian psyche), we are now at a place where actual footage of military personnel losing their lives in increasingly exotic ways is just as common on YouTube as the latest Twitch stream from Slaybase.
The atrocities committed by Russia against Ukraine have been well documented in the last decade. In 2014, the Russian military annexed the sovereign territory of Crimea without provocation, an invasion that led to the Donbas conflict and roughly 15,000 Ukrainian deaths.
In the same year, the Russian airforce shot down Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, a passenger airplane that ultimately cost 283 citizens their lives – the wreckage has still not been found.
Since Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine in 2022, analysts estimate that around 22,000 civilians have been killed, and as recently as March of this year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin after evidence was presented that Ukrainian children had been kidnapped and shipped back to Russia. This is in addition to the endless accounts of alleged human rights abuses by Russians, including torture, illegal detention, execution of POWs, and forced disappearances.
In any case, the steady flow of Ukrainian combat victories has brought the war directly to viewers online, it doesn’t matter if they like it or not. Whether the footage is leaked as propaganda to frighten Russian troops or boost Ukrainian morale, keeping up with the latest in Ukraine is now as easy as binging a season of Vikings on Netflix; only, the tragedies and horrors of the war are real. Parents who despised the producers of Faces of Death in the 90s should be outraged; instead, they’re intrigued.
Should war footage be in rotation online? Check out the latest! – “Video appears to show Ukrainian troops killing captured Russian soldiers” – is this where we are today? Should children who spend an average of 77 minutes on YouTube daily have access to the gore and hell of war?
War is hell. The loss of life, displacement of citizens, physical and psychological trauma, destruction of homes and infrastructure, and the erosion of societal values and human rights are the unfortunate and ugly parts of the same thing that unites us; a common enemy. The impact of war on civilians, especially children, though, is incredibly devastating as they bear the brunt of the violence and often suffer from disease, lack of medical care, food, and basic services.
In 2021, the United States produced a record 686 mass shootings. In 2023, we’ve already seen 140 incidents – roughly .93 mass shootings a day. Could access to these horrific videos be contributing to the uptick in teenage rage stateside? Or is there something to about today’s video games that causes American youth to dehumanize others and normalize violence?
In any case, it cannot be disputed that children have more access to the worst parts of humanity than ever before.
In Call of Duty, an airstrike puts points on the board; on the battlefield, a fleet of Bayraktar TB2 drones can wipe out an entire tank column – no respawning.
Where this is all going is anyone’s guess, but we’re now living in a world where children can watch actual battles before brushing their teeth in the morning; something all parents should be concerned about.
Given that live-streaming will likely overtake traditional media in the next 20 years, it will be interesting to see how parents, religious and political leaders, and big tech respond to the persistent and continuous feed of horror online. The question is: is it too late?
Final words
Unfortunately, #war is what is streaming this weekend.
More on the capabilities of the Bayraktar TB2 drone
The Turkish Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle is a flexible unmanned aerial vehicle with a variety of capabilities. The Bayraktar TB2 has a maximum altitude of 27,000 feet, a maximum speed of 135 knots, and a maximum endurance of around 24 hours. The Bayraktar TB2 has a number of sensors and payloads, including electro-optical and infrared cameras, laser designators, and guided missiles.
The Bayraktar TB2 drone is capable of a variety of missions such as reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, and close air support. Because of its compact size and mobility, the Bayraktar TB2 drone is also a useful instrument for urban combat and terrorist operations.