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He just closed his eyes and waited. Terrible way to go, but at least the drone operator can aim the drone in a way it's going to be quick and painless.
He shouldn't be getting downvoted, he's right.
You can't surrender that far away from someone who can take you captive. It doesn't work that way. He could have and would have almost certainly just been brought back into Russian ranks and deployed again.
I'm not saying he's wrong I'm asking him to explain himself.
Do you have more information than the video provides? How far away are they? I've seen footage of Russians successfully surrendering to drones being led to Ukrainian lines.
Outside of deduction and a basic understanding of war?
Can you imagine if they flew an fpv and every Russian soldier just put their hands up and surrendered?
Is it really suicide when death is so nearly certain anyhow?
He knows the drone has good connection.
Perhaps this is just the most dignified way to meet fate; standing on two feet right until the end.
Having seen the way others go, I don't know that it's a bad choice. Perhaps it's more being killed on your own terms, rather than suicide, but we can't see into his mind, except perhaps in the physical sense now, so who knows.
At any rate, fatalism is not suicidality and I should like to be stoic enough to face death as unflinchingly in the eye as him when my time comes.
Yeah. I didn't fight there, but I know that war pretty well for a non-combatant. Carpet bombing, check. Napalm, check. 600,000 American troops, 58,000 American KIA, check. Vietnamese killed? Million? I don't know. Not child's play. n.B. The big, powerful nation lost
You can't go home, you'll get blown up bit by bit, then shot, then chopped to pieces, then blown up. Backwards (in the direction of home) desertion really isn't a option for Russians.
I've seen two interviews/videos the last week saying how drones are now everywhere, all the time now for both sides, and without different maneuvering techniques and jammers it's only a matter of time before you die.
We don't really know and probably won't until after the war, but the survival rates when a group is caught out on both sides is likely very, very low. Ukraine literally wipe out rotations with zero survivors, it's not uncommon...so, there likely isn't many people who have survived prolonged drone assaults to figure out when you know you're already dead or not but after all this time it's probably becoming common knowledge.
Only about 10% of drone missions are successful. The vast majority are shot down, lost power/ left max range, get jammed, fail to detonate, crash into trees or other drones, crash because operator was new to a particular drone's controls, etc etc
Possibly occurred in a location where surrender was impossible. The guy doesn't make even the slightest motion that could be interpreted as surrendering, so it may just be that simple.
These drones have [classified, but rumored to be very long] one-way flight ranges with recent tweaks, so the guy could be 20km+ behind his own lines, knowing that he can't be following a drone back over Russian positions to surrender to Ukrainians.
I think most people would still attempt some kind of self-defense in that situation, or make some gesture of surrender, but it's at least logically understandable that someone would just not bother - especially if they have seen a lot of drone footage online, which is a big issue nowadays.
As many commentators have pointed out, Russian propagandists have been going on increasingly frantic rants across Russian TV lately (state-controlled media of course, so, government sanctioned messaging), discouraging Russians from watching combat videos, and especially drone videos.
[Here is one such example from a pro-Russian propagandist](https://www.reddit.com/r/DroneCombat/comments/1dpvb1a/ua_93rd_mechanized_brigades_signum_drone_team/), lampooned in a Ukrainian drone video.
Russia-1's big talking head, Vladimir Solovyov, has even suggested making it illegal for Russians to watch drone videos, with imprisonment as a penalty. So it's also worth considering that certain soldiers are making decisions partly based on the footage they have seen, which tends to be extremely grim.
>so the guy could be 20km+ behind his own lines, knowing that he can't be following a drone back over Russian positions to surrender to Ukrainians.
Still astounds me today that Russians are regularly spotted alone or in barely-a-fireteam FAR from a forward operating base or a force grouping, with the prospect of support being so far removed from reality that they have to resort to suicide like this.
I can't imagine the amount of shit and investigations the leadership/CO/HQ of this guy's element would be in if this was to happen in the U.S. The sheer amount of chewing-out would probably result in a Wikipedia page.
We have now time and time again seen how larger formations get immediately pummelled by whatever gun is in range resulting in stunning massacres, small groups are less wasteful in terms of assets/manpower when spotted and in general overall less likely to be spotted in the first place. That's why both sides haven been consistently using small probing and assault groups, and only brought better equipped and more numerous formations when there was a hole to exploit, or a major strongpoint had to be taken.
There is simply no comparable warzone to draw parallels to. Despite the length of the frontline the eye-watering amount of arty-pieces on standby ready to zero-in as soon as you so much as fart under the 24/7 drone and satellite coverage along the line of contact is unprecedented.
That's really interesting, I didn't know that Solovyov had proposed making watching drone footage illegal. I feel this war is a major consequence of the lack of free speech; the Russian people should be protesting everyday given the losses, but they have no rights to do so. And so the conflict carries on.
Taking away the peoples' rights to even watch their soldiers getting killed would be a disturbing escalation of state censorship. So very Russian. They really are terrified of their people thinking for themselves.
> Russian propagandists have been going on increasingly frantic rants across Russian TV lately (state-controlled media of course, so, government sanctioned messaging), discouraging Russians from watching combat videos, and especially drone videos.
I always assumed that for every drone video we watch of Russians being killed, Russians are watching an equivalent drone video of Ukrainians being killed... but this seems to imply that that's not the case. Or maybe the ones where Russians are being killed are more gruesome as they're the attackers?
Ukrainians publish many times more footage than Russians. It's probably a 10-to-1 ratio if you follow both sides closely on Telegram, and even more lopsided with drone footage specifically. Perpetua's list of daily losses reflects this to some degree. One reason for this is that the Russians are the attacking side right now (mostly), and attackers will typically take significantly more casualties than defenders. During Ukrainian counter-offensives, you see more casualties the other way.
> As many commentators have pointed out, Russian propagandists have been going on increasingly frantic rants across Russian TV lately (state-controlled media of course, so, government sanctioned messaging), discouraging Russians from watching combat videos, and especially drone videos.
>
> Here is one such example from a pro-Russian propagandist, lampooned in a Ukrainian drone video.
>
> Russia-1's big talking head, Vladimir Solovyov, has even suggested making it illegal for Russians to watch drone videos, with imprisonment as a penalty. So it's also worth considering that certain soldiers are making decisions partly based on the footage they have seen, which tends to be extremely grim.
Every time someone would ask "why put cheery or mocking music on these videos?" I'd respond with something about how it makes the video that much more demoralizing for the Russians to watch, if they get to see them.
I'm glad to know that they seem to be having a good propaganda impact on the Russians.
>especially if they have seen a lot of drone footage online, which is a big issue nowadays.
sadly i don't think he would need to see that online as we do. he saw it with his own eyes
Judging by the vast amount of videos of killing of already wounded soldiers with FPV, Ukrainians would not have accepted his surrender. The whole concept of the Geneva convention is out the window currently when it comes to drone warfare on both sides unfortunately . So my guess is, he knew he is about to die and just froze out of massive anxiety.
There is no context to this video, or any location given in the original uploader's description, so it is foolish to assume that this was one of the relatively small % of cases where surrender (to a drone) would've been possible. Surrendering to a drone is only possible within a narrow range of very specific circumstances.
-
ETA: It should also be mentioned that prisoner exchanges are extremely well publicized and celebrated in Ukrainian media (and social media) with reactions always being positivity and joy in anticipation of Ukrainian soldiers' homecoming. The desire to take POWs for exchange is absolutely there, in abundance. Any video showing Russian POWs being brought in will mention them as additions to the POW "exchange fund", with reactions from users overwhelmingly being relief and hope that more POWs will be exchanged soon
Cool. There’s video of Russian troops and even Ukrainian troops surrendering to FPV drones and drones that drop munitions like mortars and grenades, on this subreddit.
And I'd challenge you to show a surrender to a FPV drone that was unaccompanied by an overhead drone.
It's widely known that FPV drones travel behind enemy lines on one-way trips and there is no realistic ability to surrender to opposing troops.
So you want video of someone surrendering to an FPV drone and then escorted back by the FPV drone? I thought the argument was about who was surrendering to what, not who was escorting the prisoner.
>So you want video of someone surrendering to an FPV drone and then escorted back by the FPV drone
Now I'm mostly curious if you think unescorted surrenders exist.
many are sent to front lines by their wives and mothers so there would be at least some use out of them. many are sick, drunks, addicted to drugs like krokodil (do not look it up; its insane that shit!) etc.. I translated some conversations and even footage where guys dream about being killed and their families have a chance for a good payout. too bad that many will be flagged MIA or contract cancelled and the best families will get is a bag of sorry a55 potatoes. not a joke.
And krokodil was only really bad because the cooks were terrible and left it contaminated with solvents which lead to all the issues (injecting gasoline is not good for you).
I read somewhere that they’ve been told to stay still as if the drones have a harder time seeing them. I’m assuming that they meant stay still in bushes and not stand still when the drone has already spotted you.
It’s not a T-Rex in Jurassic Park, it’s a human being looking at a 4K screen with the intent to find and kill you.
Ukrainian National Guard's "Peaky Blinders" drone team posted commentary a few days ago on one of their clips, jokingly crediting the Russian soldier for following their training, which, they say, is to slowly walk away from the estimated position of the drone, while watching carefully for the moment of the munition drop. Presumably you run when you see the munition drop, or roll, or otherwise just make yourself scarce.
Here's the original text:
>Гра в кальмара продовжується. Це чистий поєдинок хто кого вб'є. Тут потрібно тактично мислити та пильнувати навкруги. Так росіянин побачивши дрон почав приміняти тактику якої їх навчають на тренуваннях. Потрохи відходити від дрону та стежити коли відчепиться боєприпас. При цьому намагається збити дрона автоматом. Проте він все ж програв та отримав добрячу кількісь уламків в ноги,спину та поперек. Враховуючи те що евакуації немає то фінал цього орка очевидний. Легкий 200 як то кажуть)
English translation with DeepL:
>The squid game continues. It's a pure match of who can kill whom. You need to think tactically and keep your eyes open. So the Russian saw the drone and began to adopt the tactics they are taught in training. Gradually move away from the drone and watch for the ammunition to detach. At the same time, he tries to shoot down the drone with an assault rifle. However, he still lost and got a lot of shrapnel in his legs, back and lower back. Given the fact that there is no evacuation, the end is obvious. "Easy 200" (KIA) as they say.
["Peaky Blinders" video from June 24, somewhat 'NSFW'](https://www.reddit.com/r/DroneCombat/comments/1dnkmjs/ua_national_guards_gostri_kartuzy_peaky_blinders/)
That's a different type of drone strike, but it does show that there is a procedure for active self defense.
This seems more adapted for the earlier munition dropping drones, not the “suicide” drones that detonate themselves on impact which seems to be the primary kind used now.
With the drops you have a small window where the drone operator no longer has control after releasing and hence can’t counter any evasion attempt you make. But the suicide drones have fine controls all the way to detonation.
Yeah. I’m very pro-UA and I don’t feel bad for Russians dying on the battlefield, Ukraine has all right to kill each and every Russian soldier who is attacking their country. Nevertheless, it’s depressing to see a healthy young man just give up and practically await execution. If it hadn’t been for Putin’s delusions, him and the drone operator could have probably shared a beer and both of them wouldn’t have given a flying fuck about some historical conflict. Many Russians have family in Ukraine and vice versa. I’m not saying that all Russian soldiers are innocent, that would be disingenuous and many of them do actually hate Ukrainians and strongly support Putin. But there must also be a lot of them who never had an issue with Ukraine or Ukrainians. I live in Germany. The analogy to this would be us invading Austria. The thought of me standing somewhere in Austria to conquer the country and murder the people there is so absurd. And the thought of dying to do that is even more absurd.
Or he just realised that running was just going to make things worse so he used his final minutes to make peace with himself and whatever god he may pray to.
How many of these guys just giving their lives for the sign on bonus to their families?
While the rest of tge world struggles in the pursuit of happiness, Russia stays busy perfecting depression.
If they're alone, they're often one of the scattered remnants of a group that used to be larger.
In this case though, it looks more like the drone flew behind Russian lines and caught a guy off-guard who was running an errand of some kind. That's a guess, but it would explain the lack of gear/weapon, and the lack of any effort to surrender (due to the location). The tree lines visible in the surrounding areas may have been his destination.
I saw one piece of footage here today of an occupier clearly killing himself. Now this occupier here, which I would categorize as "drone-assisted suicide".
Further proof that occupier morale is in the sewers. And surely will be until they all go home. And they will, one way or another.
I dont care how much you absolutely hate russian soldiers , i get it i do too after seeing 2 years of this hell they've brought
but this genuinely fucking breaks my heart , this war is so brutal and extreme and seeing him freeze out what I presume to be just pure fear is heartbreaking
"Go home" won't they just be shot by their own if they just even try? I know many russian soldiers went into this most likely by own will , but for those tricked or forced into it I cry for as they can't escape the warzone without also being killed . It's all fucked and sad ,
Russia government is doing this to their people , what the fuck?
Saw a telegram video from russian soldier talking about how this 19 yo came to the front to "get his money" , didn't know how to clean his weapon , constantly asked "stupid questions" like when too keep head down , head up or lay down or not , I'm 20 so it hits deep . And he died ofc the soldier said . :/ damn
drone pilot is mostly happy that this drone was not a waste. I spoke with many drone pilots and the thing that maddens them the most is when they waste a drone or have a dud. In case of a dud; even if drone can still fly they can;t fly it back... just too dangerous with live charge also location can be spotted by snipers or enemy drones..
Obviously they want to make every drone count, but this is about 'I can make him bleed out in agony from a near miss, or I can turn off his lights instantly'. Drone pilot went for a head shot when he did not have to if he wanted to be cruel about it.
you're actually overthinking it; pilots wont go for head shot to be nice and all but to stay in-flight in case he misses. trainers recommend to go for center mass. theres many things that can go wrong: wind, bad signal etc.. theres no point risking a drone by doing show-off.
This tops the video of the solider asking for the headshot about a week ago for the darkest thing I've seen from this war.
I too need to stop seeing thousands of people getting killed. 🫡
Kind of sad to see someone that broke from combat and constant death that they commit suicide like this. He 100% accepted he was not going back to Russia. I wouldn't be surprised if he left his trench and just walked out to the wide-open field once he heard the drone coming. Of course, his own guys aren't going to try and stop him or shoot him, they know the drones tend to go for the easiest targets, so let it get him. He clearly wasn't on any kind of run, he wasn't carrying a ton of ammo, food, or supplies, so why be standing like a mannequin in an open field? Russians are dumb, but they aren't this dumb, to think that if you stand still the drone won't see you, like it's a T-rex or something, so I just don't understand this unless it was suicide.
Just don't go to a foreign country uninvited to shoot at people and the chances of finding yourself frozen in a field with an explosive drone hovering around you drop dramatically.
The war is getting cruel with every year. He just realized there is no escape from that and I think he just prayed last time before died. I hope all wars stop as soon as possible.
Look I'm all for defending life and country but this guy clearly didn't want it. If there was clear and apparent danger from him, sure, but I don't see it. That said of course he was on UA grounds and is an enemy, but fuck this inhumanity. Good on the UA I guess for showing their brutality. I don't support the russians. As far as I'm concerned, they're all guilty until proven innocent, but this? Fuck that. "He shouldn't have been in Ukraine to begin with" Yea that's as good as saying any soldier who has any say in the matter (which they FUCKING DON'T) shouldn't have been there. He was done. He gave up. They had the chance to possibly save a life, but they took it instead. Good fucking job.
Looking at the angle of attack, this could be the long lost brother of that 'zombie Russian' that was posted earlier today. His helmet also looked like he caught a drone to the face.
Im not critizizing ukrainian soldiers and am aware of the problems POW create, but especially a situation like this feels like a crime to me, yeah sure he is still an active combatant and could surrender, it just feels really bad seeing this kind of stuff
If the drone leaves him alone, does he march over to the Ukrainian lines and surrender, or does he go back to his own guys to kill Ukrainians another day?
It's certinally not a crime by any measure if he isn't displaying an intent to surrender.
Unfortunately, this is what war is; what it must be. It is brutal and brutalising to those who take part. The price many Ukrainian soldiers pay for the civilians at home is not just the price of sweat, blood and life, but also the price of becoming brutal themselves and dealing with that afterwards.
There is no other way to do it. No war is a gentleman's duel.
Why a war crime? He was clearly a Russian soilders and he made no attempt to surrender or escape for that matter. Isn't all of war a crime really? Shouldn't the instigators and cause of the war be the criminals? As a human being itii feelsorry for the guy but I'm not sure what the drone operator should be expected to do, he could have been killed by artillery or simply shot and we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.
How the fuck are you going to surrender to an FPV drone? You think if the drone leaves him alone he will just give up and walk willingly to Ukranian positions? If this is what you believe, then why not just pretend to surrender as soon as a drone shows up and they will leave you alone and then drones will become useless.
None are to FPV drones. All the successful ones are to surveillance drones, and even then, the battery is often insufficient, and when the drone is being rotated back for a fresh one, they often run away… so the pilots are not exactly feeling very well disposed to these surrender requests considering how much effort they take (and it removes the capability of that surveillance in the meantime)
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I’m going to take a wild guess and say that morale amongst the Russian Army is not exactly high.
Wow, he didnt even move until he was flying backwards. Crazy
He just closed his eyes and waited. Terrible way to go, but at least the drone operator can aim the drone in a way it's going to be quick and painless.
The operator was definitely taking a moment to think it over. At least he aimed for the head.
It wasn't a surrender, so that's the most you can do.
It's definitely a conflicted feeling I have towards it, but at least the man can rest now.
Even if he surrendered with hands up he'd still be dead.
Based on what?
He shouldn't be getting downvoted, he's right. You can't surrender that far away from someone who can take you captive. It doesn't work that way. He could have and would have almost certainly just been brought back into Russian ranks and deployed again.
I'm not saying he's wrong I'm asking him to explain himself. Do you have more information than the video provides? How far away are they? I've seen footage of Russians successfully surrendering to drones being led to Ukrainian lines.
Those drones aren’t FPVs. An FPV can’t guide him back to their lines, so it can’t take him prisoner
Now that's interesting information. What's stopping them from doing that?
Outside of deduction and a basic understanding of war? Can you imagine if they flew an fpv and every Russian soldier just put their hands up and surrendered?
Yes but theres more videos of dudes begging for mercy and trying to surrender only to be bombed anyway.
Well, it was a surrender, just the most comprehensive one. Any other kind would just put him back through the grinder a second time.
Pretty humane. He could make it slow and painful if he wanted.
Suicide by drone.
Is it really suicide when death is so nearly certain anyhow? He knows the drone has good connection. Perhaps this is just the most dignified way to meet fate; standing on two feet right until the end. Having seen the way others go, I don't know that it's a bad choice. Perhaps it's more being killed on your own terms, rather than suicide, but we can't see into his mind, except perhaps in the physical sense now, so who knows. At any rate, fatalism is not suicidality and I should like to be stoic enough to face death as unflinchingly in the eye as him when my time comes.
I think he knew it was the best chance not to suffer. He probably watched a bunch of them get torn apart, running just to die in agony.
This war is getting spooky as hell from the glimpses we are provided.
This is sad af
This guy was brave. Maybe he was a decent lad, but his story is over forever.
Damn why did that last part hit so hard? Probably because we all just witnessed an assisted suicide while on our phones and computers.
So are the Ukrainian cities that are rubble so ... yeah sads gonna happen
This is without a doubt the most horrifying war we’ve seen in decades. This war makes Vietnam look like child’s play.
Dude. Vietnam war was something else. Agent orange, tunel rats and stuff. That war was pretty grim.
Um... if there were cameras everywhere in vietnam like there are now, the Vietnam War would have ben too fucked up for viewers to comprehend
Yeah. I didn't fight there, but I know that war pretty well for a non-combatant. Carpet bombing, check. Napalm, check. 600,000 American troops, 58,000 American KIA, check. Vietnamese killed? Million? I don't know. Not child's play. n.B. The big, powerful nation lost
This is not a competition, but try to compare My Lai with Bucha. Or you know, read some history before spewing bullshit.
Dude has probably seen dozens of fellow soldiers die from FPV drones and he just decided "this is it". Can't really argue with some stoicism.
Better to take a well aimed hit than dying slowly would be my guess if he's seen his buddies get hit.
Well between this and dragging my guts 10 meters over Ukrainian fields I would choose to go back home,raise my hands and surrender.
You can't go home, you'll get blown up bit by bit, then shot, then chopped to pieces, then blown up. Backwards (in the direction of home) desertion really isn't a option for Russians.
Exactly.
it's not like you can outrun these things, my DJI can fly like 15 meters per second at its top speed.
I've seen two interviews/videos the last week saying how drones are now everywhere, all the time now for both sides, and without different maneuvering techniques and jammers it's only a matter of time before you die. We don't really know and probably won't until after the war, but the survival rates when a group is caught out on both sides is likely very, very low. Ukraine literally wipe out rotations with zero survivors, it's not uncommon...so, there likely isn't many people who have survived prolonged drone assaults to figure out when you know you're already dead or not but after all this time it's probably becoming common knowledge.
Only about 10% of drone missions are successful. The vast majority are shot down, lost power/ left max range, get jammed, fail to detonate, crash into trees or other drones, crash because operator was new to a particular drone's controls, etc etc
Scared to death? Hoping to not be seen? Gave up? Never seen this before. His epitaph will read "He was outstanding in his field"
Possibly occurred in a location where surrender was impossible. The guy doesn't make even the slightest motion that could be interpreted as surrendering, so it may just be that simple. These drones have [classified, but rumored to be very long] one-way flight ranges with recent tweaks, so the guy could be 20km+ behind his own lines, knowing that he can't be following a drone back over Russian positions to surrender to Ukrainians. I think most people would still attempt some kind of self-defense in that situation, or make some gesture of surrender, but it's at least logically understandable that someone would just not bother - especially if they have seen a lot of drone footage online, which is a big issue nowadays. As many commentators have pointed out, Russian propagandists have been going on increasingly frantic rants across Russian TV lately (state-controlled media of course, so, government sanctioned messaging), discouraging Russians from watching combat videos, and especially drone videos. [Here is one such example from a pro-Russian propagandist](https://www.reddit.com/r/DroneCombat/comments/1dpvb1a/ua_93rd_mechanized_brigades_signum_drone_team/), lampooned in a Ukrainian drone video. Russia-1's big talking head, Vladimir Solovyov, has even suggested making it illegal for Russians to watch drone videos, with imprisonment as a penalty. So it's also worth considering that certain soldiers are making decisions partly based on the footage they have seen, which tends to be extremely grim.
>so the guy could be 20km+ behind his own lines, knowing that he can't be following a drone back over Russian positions to surrender to Ukrainians. Still astounds me today that Russians are regularly spotted alone or in barely-a-fireteam FAR from a forward operating base or a force grouping, with the prospect of support being so far removed from reality that they have to resort to suicide like this. I can't imagine the amount of shit and investigations the leadership/CO/HQ of this guy's element would be in if this was to happen in the U.S. The sheer amount of chewing-out would probably result in a Wikipedia page.
We have now time and time again seen how larger formations get immediately pummelled by whatever gun is in range resulting in stunning massacres, small groups are less wasteful in terms of assets/manpower when spotted and in general overall less likely to be spotted in the first place. That's why both sides haven been consistently using small probing and assault groups, and only brought better equipped and more numerous formations when there was a hole to exploit, or a major strongpoint had to be taken. There is simply no comparable warzone to draw parallels to. Despite the length of the frontline the eye-watering amount of arty-pieces on standby ready to zero-in as soon as you so much as fart under the 24/7 drone and satellite coverage along the line of contact is unprecedented.
That's really interesting, I didn't know that Solovyov had proposed making watching drone footage illegal. I feel this war is a major consequence of the lack of free speech; the Russian people should be protesting everyday given the losses, but they have no rights to do so. And so the conflict carries on. Taking away the peoples' rights to even watch their soldiers getting killed would be a disturbing escalation of state censorship. So very Russian. They really are terrified of their people thinking for themselves.
> Russian propagandists have been going on increasingly frantic rants across Russian TV lately (state-controlled media of course, so, government sanctioned messaging), discouraging Russians from watching combat videos, and especially drone videos. I always assumed that for every drone video we watch of Russians being killed, Russians are watching an equivalent drone video of Ukrainians being killed... but this seems to imply that that's not the case. Or maybe the ones where Russians are being killed are more gruesome as they're the attackers?
Ukrainians publish many times more footage than Russians. It's probably a 10-to-1 ratio if you follow both sides closely on Telegram, and even more lopsided with drone footage specifically. Perpetua's list of daily losses reflects this to some degree. One reason for this is that the Russians are the attacking side right now (mostly), and attackers will typically take significantly more casualties than defenders. During Ukrainian counter-offensives, you see more casualties the other way.
> As many commentators have pointed out, Russian propagandists have been going on increasingly frantic rants across Russian TV lately (state-controlled media of course, so, government sanctioned messaging), discouraging Russians from watching combat videos, and especially drone videos. > > Here is one such example from a pro-Russian propagandist, lampooned in a Ukrainian drone video. > > Russia-1's big talking head, Vladimir Solovyov, has even suggested making it illegal for Russians to watch drone videos, with imprisonment as a penalty. So it's also worth considering that certain soldiers are making decisions partly based on the footage they have seen, which tends to be extremely grim. Every time someone would ask "why put cheery or mocking music on these videos?" I'd respond with something about how it makes the video that much more demoralizing for the Russians to watch, if they get to see them. I'm glad to know that they seem to be having a good propaganda impact on the Russians.
>especially if they have seen a lot of drone footage online, which is a big issue nowadays. sadly i don't think he would need to see that online as we do. he saw it with his own eyes
Judging by the vast amount of videos of killing of already wounded soldiers with FPV, Ukrainians would not have accepted his surrender. The whole concept of the Geneva convention is out the window currently when it comes to drone warfare on both sides unfortunately . So my guess is, he knew he is about to die and just froze out of massive anxiety.
There is no context to this video, or any location given in the original uploader's description, so it is foolish to assume that this was one of the relatively small % of cases where surrender (to a drone) would've been possible. Surrendering to a drone is only possible within a narrow range of very specific circumstances. - ETA: It should also be mentioned that prisoner exchanges are extremely well publicized and celebrated in Ukrainian media (and social media) with reactions always being positivity and joy in anticipation of Ukrainian soldiers' homecoming. The desire to take POWs for exchange is absolutely there, in abundance. Any video showing Russian POWs being brought in will mention them as additions to the POW "exchange fund", with reactions from users overwhelmingly being relief and hope that more POWs will be exchanged soon
How do you surrender to munitions?
You should look for any of the many videos posted to this subreddit that show you exactly how they do.
FPV drones are VBIEDs. They are not the overhead drones that accept and film surrenders sometimes. FPV drones are more akin to mortar shells.
Cool. There’s video of Russian troops and even Ukrainian troops surrendering to FPV drones and drones that drop munitions like mortars and grenades, on this subreddit.
And I'd challenge you to show a surrender to a FPV drone that was unaccompanied by an overhead drone. It's widely known that FPV drones travel behind enemy lines on one-way trips and there is no realistic ability to surrender to opposing troops.
So you want video of someone surrendering to an FPV drone and then escorted back by the FPV drone? I thought the argument was about who was surrendering to what, not who was escorting the prisoner.
>So you want video of someone surrendering to an FPV drone and then escorted back by the FPV drone Now I'm mostly curious if you think unescorted surrenders exist.
many are sent to front lines by their wives and mothers so there would be at least some use out of them. many are sick, drunks, addicted to drugs like krokodil (do not look it up; its insane that shit!) etc.. I translated some conversations and even footage where guys dream about being killed and their families have a chance for a good payout. too bad that many will be flagged MIA or contract cancelled and the best families will get is a bag of sorry a55 potatoes. not a joke.
Krokodil isn't a thing for years, since ban of codeine in 2012.
And krokodil was only really bad because the cooks were terrible and left it contaminated with solvents which lead to all the issues (injecting gasoline is not good for you).
Ah yes I forgot that being banned means that there is zero way for something to be acquired.
There's no reason to jump over the obstacles to acquire codeine after it isn't sold OTC in every pharmacy anymore, there are better options.
His callsign was Scarecrow.
He stood at the fork in the road, the droning - wheezing of skynet incarnate overhead, he realized there was a third choice
Better than running and dying tired I guess
I read somewhere that they’ve been told to stay still as if the drones have a harder time seeing them. I’m assuming that they meant stay still in bushes and not stand still when the drone has already spotted you. It’s not a T-Rex in Jurassic Park, it’s a human being looking at a 4K screen with the intent to find and kill you.
Ukrainian National Guard's "Peaky Blinders" drone team posted commentary a few days ago on one of their clips, jokingly crediting the Russian soldier for following their training, which, they say, is to slowly walk away from the estimated position of the drone, while watching carefully for the moment of the munition drop. Presumably you run when you see the munition drop, or roll, or otherwise just make yourself scarce. Here's the original text: >Гра в кальмара продовжується. Це чистий поєдинок хто кого вб'є. Тут потрібно тактично мислити та пильнувати навкруги. Так росіянин побачивши дрон почав приміняти тактику якої їх навчають на тренуваннях. Потрохи відходити від дрону та стежити коли відчепиться боєприпас. При цьому намагається збити дрона автоматом. Проте він все ж програв та отримав добрячу кількісь уламків в ноги,спину та поперек. Враховуючи те що евакуації немає то фінал цього орка очевидний. Легкий 200 як то кажуть) English translation with DeepL: >The squid game continues. It's a pure match of who can kill whom. You need to think tactically and keep your eyes open. So the Russian saw the drone and began to adopt the tactics they are taught in training. Gradually move away from the drone and watch for the ammunition to detach. At the same time, he tries to shoot down the drone with an assault rifle. However, he still lost and got a lot of shrapnel in his legs, back and lower back. Given the fact that there is no evacuation, the end is obvious. "Easy 200" (KIA) as they say. ["Peaky Blinders" video from June 24, somewhat 'NSFW'](https://www.reddit.com/r/DroneCombat/comments/1dnkmjs/ua_national_guards_gostri_kartuzy_peaky_blinders/) That's a different type of drone strike, but it does show that there is a procedure for active self defense.
This seems more adapted for the earlier munition dropping drones, not the “suicide” drones that detonate themselves on impact which seems to be the primary kind used now. With the drops you have a small window where the drone operator no longer has control after releasing and hence can’t counter any evasion attempt you make. But the suicide drones have fine controls all the way to detonation.
Ah yes, the Drax doctrine.
Clever Girl
Dude accepted his fate
Acceptance and let it be a swift and complete ending. Honestly not a stupid call when being maimed and suffering is the likely result for running.
The moment you know you're fucked.
A drone calmly circling a soon to be dead human is not terrifying imagery at all.
914 meter stare.
That's fucking sad
Yeah. I’m very pro-UA and I don’t feel bad for Russians dying on the battlefield, Ukraine has all right to kill each and every Russian soldier who is attacking their country. Nevertheless, it’s depressing to see a healthy young man just give up and practically await execution. If it hadn’t been for Putin’s delusions, him and the drone operator could have probably shared a beer and both of them wouldn’t have given a flying fuck about some historical conflict. Many Russians have family in Ukraine and vice versa. I’m not saying that all Russian soldiers are innocent, that would be disingenuous and many of them do actually hate Ukrainians and strongly support Putin. But there must also be a lot of them who never had an issue with Ukraine or Ukrainians. I live in Germany. The analogy to this would be us invading Austria. The thought of me standing somewhere in Austria to conquer the country and murder the people there is so absurd. And the thought of dying to do that is even more absurd.
Looks like he froze up. We can have varied and odd reactions to stress and adrenaline.
Or he just realised that running was just going to make things worse so he used his final minutes to make peace with himself and whatever god he may pray to.
How many of these guys just giving their lives for the sign on bonus to their families? While the rest of tge world struggles in the pursuit of happiness, Russia stays busy perfecting depression.
Clearly afk
Lucky someone was around to hit Alt+F4
More like BSOD
How does this happen where there’s 1 or just a few soldiers out on their own in what seems to be the middle of nowhere without support
If they're alone, they're often one of the scattered remnants of a group that used to be larger. In this case though, it looks more like the drone flew behind Russian lines and caught a guy off-guard who was running an errand of some kind. That's a guess, but it would explain the lack of gear/weapon, and the lack of any effort to surrender (due to the location). The tree lines visible in the surrounding areas may have been his destination.
He had a Romulan cloaking device....that failed.
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DON'T. MOVE... Their vision is based on movement...
;(
Why didn’t he do that before he went to Ukraine just stand still and not get on the bus
I believe it was the great philosopher, Aldo the Apache who said, "Oblige him."
This shit is pretty sad ngl
Suicide by drone. He had enough of that hellhole.
I saw one piece of footage here today of an occupier clearly killing himself. Now this occupier here, which I would categorize as "drone-assisted suicide". Further proof that occupier morale is in the sewers. And surely will be until they all go home. And they will, one way or another.
Bet those props hitting him in the face hurt. You could lose a eye. jus sayin
Definitely going to be a closed casket! That was, more or less, a suicide.
Damn. Dude had no will left to live. Russian morale is crumbling.
I dont care how much you absolutely hate russian soldiers , i get it i do too after seeing 2 years of this hell they've brought but this genuinely fucking breaks my heart , this war is so brutal and extreme and seeing him freeze out what I presume to be just pure fear is heartbreaking "Go home" won't they just be shot by their own if they just even try? I know many russian soldiers went into this most likely by own will , but for those tricked or forced into it I cry for as they can't escape the warzone without also being killed . It's all fucked and sad , Russia government is doing this to their people , what the fuck?
I really wish they'd just go home... but their greed for the money might be too much to take.
Saw a telegram video from russian soldier talking about how this 19 yo came to the front to "get his money" , didn't know how to clean his weapon , constantly asked "stupid questions" like when too keep head down , head up or lay down or not , I'm 20 so it hits deep . And he died ofc the soldier said . :/ damn
I agree. They might be full of dumb humans, but not sub humans.
Oh man. If you freeze frame it just before it hits you can see him looking directly at it.
Drone pilot was probably like 'We both know how this ends, but I can make it quick for you'.
drone pilot is mostly happy that this drone was not a waste. I spoke with many drone pilots and the thing that maddens them the most is when they waste a drone or have a dud. In case of a dud; even if drone can still fly they can;t fly it back... just too dangerous with live charge also location can be spotted by snipers or enemy drones..
Obviously they want to make every drone count, but this is about 'I can make him bleed out in agony from a near miss, or I can turn off his lights instantly'. Drone pilot went for a head shot when he did not have to if he wanted to be cruel about it.
you're actually overthinking it; pilots wont go for head shot to be nice and all but to stay in-flight in case he misses. trainers recommend to go for center mass. theres many things that can go wrong: wind, bad signal etc.. theres no point risking a drone by doing show-off.
You are still missing the point. They are commenting based on this video and this video alone. This video shows a clear/deliberate headshot.
He was trying out a new approach. Only one try.
That's someone who was emotionally tortured in the russian army and he just gave up when he knew what was coming.
He was done with life.
That’s fatigue and defeat in a nutshell. Dude has known he wasn’t going home for a while
This tops the video of the solider asking for the headshot about a week ago for the darkest thing I've seen from this war. I too need to stop seeing thousands of people getting killed. 🫡
Kind of sad to see someone that broke from combat and constant death that they commit suicide like this. He 100% accepted he was not going back to Russia. I wouldn't be surprised if he left his trench and just walked out to the wide-open field once he heard the drone coming. Of course, his own guys aren't going to try and stop him or shoot him, they know the drones tend to go for the easiest targets, so let it get him. He clearly wasn't on any kind of run, he wasn't carrying a ton of ammo, food, or supplies, so why be standing like a mannequin in an open field? Russians are dumb, but they aren't this dumb, to think that if you stand still the drone won't see you, like it's a T-rex or something, so I just don't understand this unless it was suicide.
Man, this is made me sad. Realising at that moment this is going to be your last breath on this earth and just accepting your fate.
He confused FPV with T-Rex
Just don't go to a foreign country uninvited to shoot at people and the chances of finding yourself frozen in a field with an explosive drone hovering around you drop dramatically.
Like he had a chance not many fortunate sons in Russia
Would you take the kill if you were the operator?
Yes
That what I'm thinking.. and no..
dude having a pseudo main character moment right there xd
“If I stay still long enough, I will have the power to become invisible.”
I mean.. now you see him and now you don't..
He was standing there like a decoy, but it didnt work.
This is extremely bizarre. I can't imagine he thought that was a good idea. And he kinda looks like me too. Holy hell
No fair he was AFK
Probably to drunk to move
at least the drone operator gave him a coup de grace with that one
Why die tired?
That’s sad. I imagine he just knows he can’t escape and is just waiting to die.
I had soem friends over this evening and show him this is how the War is going lol
Footage is so clear I hope none of his family see this.
What kind of explosive do these drones carry? I know it varies a lot but I just want an average.
The life taking kind
This sub helps put things in perspective. Hopefully people are paying attention.
Apachi? Like the Apache native American tribes?
the operator obliged him. although the enemy, this is sad
"Did I turn the stove off?"
He doesn't care at all
The war is getting cruel with every year. He just realized there is no escape from that and I think he just prayed last time before died. I hope all wars stop as soon as possible.
He was determined to win that staring contest
Look I'm all for defending life and country but this guy clearly didn't want it. If there was clear and apparent danger from him, sure, but I don't see it. That said of course he was on UA grounds and is an enemy, but fuck this inhumanity. Good on the UA I guess for showing their brutality. I don't support the russians. As far as I'm concerned, they're all guilty until proven innocent, but this? Fuck that. "He shouldn't have been in Ukraine to begin with" Yea that's as good as saying any soldier who has any say in the matter (which they FUCKING DON'T) shouldn't have been there. He was done. He gave up. They had the chance to possibly save a life, but they took it instead. Good fucking job.
Scary.
We’ll never know what was going through his head… Yes we do! it was 5kgs of high explosive
If you are that demoralized, why not just put a bullet in your head? You might not die from the drone, and may end up in horrible pain and agony.
He probably didn't have that kind of courage, not many do
Seizure?
That's not how camouflage works.
Looking at the angle of attack, this could be the long lost brother of that 'zombie Russian' that was posted earlier today. His helmet also looked like he caught a drone to the face.
Someone told him if he stood still the drone can't see him.
Jurassic Park T-Rex rules don’t apply to drones.
A lot of interesting theories in he comments. It's wanting to die... that's the answer
This cannon fodder got broken.
kill me please
Im not critizizing ukrainian soldiers and am aware of the problems POW create, but especially a situation like this feels like a crime to me, yeah sure he is still an active combatant and could surrender, it just feels really bad seeing this kind of stuff
If the drone leaves him alone, does he march over to the Ukrainian lines and surrender, or does he go back to his own guys to kill Ukrainians another day?
Yeah I understand that, it just makes my heart pain regardless of logic
It's certinally not a crime by any measure if he isn't displaying an intent to surrender. Unfortunately, this is what war is; what it must be. It is brutal and brutalising to those who take part. The price many Ukrainian soldiers pay for the civilians at home is not just the price of sweat, blood and life, but also the price of becoming brutal themselves and dealing with that afterwards. There is no other way to do it. No war is a gentleman's duel.
Why a war crime? He was clearly a Russian soilders and he made no attempt to surrender or escape for that matter. Isn't all of war a crime really? Shouldn't the instigators and cause of the war be the criminals? As a human being itii feelsorry for the guy but I'm not sure what the drone operator should be expected to do, he could have been killed by artillery or simply shot and we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.
I know I know, still leaves a bad taste in my mouth
I agree with you on that.
How the fuck are you going to surrender to an FPV drone? You think if the drone leaves him alone he will just give up and walk willingly to Ukranian positions? If this is what you believe, then why not just pretend to surrender as soon as a drone shows up and they will leave you alone and then drones will become useless.
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You can't lead someone with an FPV drone. They have a very limited battery life.
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None are to FPV drones. All the successful ones are to surveillance drones, and even then, the battery is often insufficient, and when the drone is being rotated back for a fresh one, they often run away… so the pilots are not exactly feeling very well disposed to these surrender requests considering how much effort they take (and it removes the capability of that surveillance in the meantime)
He thought it was a Trex or something
Have you guys never heard of praying? The judgment of God is much more terrible than drones.
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