A Russian soldier apparently stopped a Ukrainian drone attack by smashing the incoming unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with the butt of his rifle, according to a short clip published by the Telegram channel SHOT.
Footage shared by the channel on Friday showed a small UAV rushing towards a serviceman who was walking along a dirt pathway. The man can be seen promptly noticing the incoming danger and hitting the drone with his assault rifle. The UAV then explodes mid-air, producing a large plume of smoke.
The soldier is seen surviving the encounter, as he emerges from the smoke cloud before falling to the ground. He then gets back to his feet and runs away, as shots hit the ground around him. The Russian Telegram channel claimed that the soldier did not sustain any injuries during the encounter and is “alive and well.”
According to SHOT, the incident took place near the town of Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The Russian military has not officially commented on the encounter or provided any information on the soldier or the location where it took place.
Russian media outlets reported that the man in the video was serving with the Akhmat Special Forces unit from Russia’s Chechen Republic.
Chasov Yar has long served as a major logistics hub for the Ukrainian military. The area around the key Donbass town that had been turned into a fortress by Kiev’s troops has become an arena of fierce battles between Ukrainian and Russian forces over the past months.
Russian troops managed to partially seize control of the eastern part of the town in June but the combat environment in the area proved to be extremely difficult. The town is split in two uneven halves by a major canal, which is used as a fortified line by Kiev’s forces.
The video appeared a day after another clip showed another Russian fighter headbutting an incoming Ukrainian kamikaze drone. The serviceman, who was wearing a helmet, also reportedly survived the ordeal.
Cheap first-person-view (FPV) drones carrying small explosive charges are extensively used by both sides in the Ukraine conflict, often to thwart enemy attempts to advance or to target troops taking cover inside buildings and trenches.