See Russian Soldiers Scatter, Chased By Ukrainian Drone: Video footage shared online this week shows Russian soldiers fleeing from a Ukrainian drone. The footage, which has not been independently verified by 19FortyFive, appears to show soldiers located somewhere in Ukraine scattering as the drone chases them.
At the sight of a Ukrainian drone, terrorists learn to run loose pic.twitter.com/DtlZkPW34Y
— 🇺🇦War in Ukraine🇺🇦 (@Rinegati) November 20, 2022
The three soldiers split up in hopes of outrunning the drone, and occasionally, what looks to be a grenade or other kind of ammunition dangling from the drone can be seen entering the shot.
“At the sight of a Ukrainian drone, terrorists learn to run loose,” popular war analysis Twitter account Rinegati said in a post from Sunday.
Users commenting on the video suggested that the drone operator may have been purposely attempting to taunt the soldiers. However, given that the soldiers did not surrender, the drone operator may also simply have been attempting to “catch” the soldiers.
The clip also appears to show several large craters in the ground, suggesting that similar drone strikes may have occurred in the moments, or days, in the run-up to this incident.
Ukraine MOD Says Russian Soldiers Surrendering to Drones
Similar video footage shared on Friday by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also appears to show a Russian soldier surrendering to a Ukrainian drone. The video, uploaded to Twitter, included a caption from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry describing drones as the “fiercest enemies” of Russian occupiers.
“But it turns out not all of them,” the tweet continues. “This one took into captivity an occupier that realized that surrender is a chance to survive, as opposed to attempting to resist the #UAF, where the chance of survival is 0. Drones know.”
The video, recorded from a rotary-blade unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) above a Russian position, shows a Russian soldier holding his hands above his head as he walks out of the trees and into the open air. The soldier is careful to ensure that he does not reach for his weapon and indicates that he is willing to surrender and become a prisoner of war.
🇺🇦 drones are the fiercest enemies of the 🇷🇺 occupiers.
But it turns out not of all of them.
This one took into captivity an occupier that realized that surrender is a chance to survive, as opposed to attempting to resist the #UAF, where the chance of survival is 0.
Drones know. pic.twitter.com/mHU6CyVN9F— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) November 18, 2022
Writing for Business Insider, Mia Jankowicz notes that one Ukrainian soldier, identified as “Bob Sla” from the 247th Kharkiv Territorial Rifle Battalion, told the Ukrainian World Congress in September that drones deployed in Kherson were not only being used to save Ukrainian lives, but also to capture Russian soldiers.
Ukraine has used Western-supplied drones to its advantage for some time now, but Russia is beginning to catch up, with news this week revealing how Russia and Iran have agreed to begin the production of new attack drones to be used in Ukraine.
Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor.
