Cardboard drones as easy to assemble as an Ikea flatpack are believed to have destroyed five Russian jets in an attack by Ukrainian forces.

An official from Kyiv's security service said four Su-30 aircraft and one Mig-29 fighter jet were hit at Kursk airfield just across the border in Russia.

Last weekend's assault, said to have involved 16 drones, also damaged two Pantsir missile launchers and the radar of an S-300 air defence system.

A prominent pro-Russian blogger reported that, 'for the first time', cardboard self-assembly drones sold to Ukraine by Australia were central to the operation.

The weaponry is called the Corvo Precision Payload Delivery System (PPDS) and was created by Australian manufacturers Sypaq.

Costing just £2,750 each, they have been in Ukraine since March after the Australian government struck a £16million deal for the delivery of 100 per month.

Arriving in flatpacks two-and-a-half feet long, they can be assembled in roughly an hour. 

They are constructed from a lightweight board described as 'waxed cardboard', and have a propeller and a military-grade navigation system.

Incredibly, they are held together in part by rubber bands.

The drones, believed to be virtually undetectable by radar, can fly for 75 miles at 37mph and are capable of carrying up to 3kg of load.