The First Time in the History: a Soldier Was Captured by a Drone

May 10, 2023April 22, 2026

May 9, 2023. A trench outside Bakhmut, Donetsk region. This is where it happened — the first time in recorded military history that an enemy soldier was captured by a drone.

The “Achilles” strike UAV company of the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Ivan Sirko had been working to push Russian forces out of their positions in the unit’s sector. Three occupiers are pinned in a foxhole. Above them, bomber and reconnaissance drones from the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Ivan Sirko are working the sector.

In that particular foxhole, the situation resolved itself in a way nobody had planned for. The first occupier, wounded and unable to move, pulled a grenade under his head and killed himself. The second shot himself in the head.

The third spotted the Ukrainian reconnaissance drone, threw his rifle to the side, and raised both hands. A strike drone with a live munition was hanging directly above him. The crew had a decision to make — and they chose to try to take him prisoner. A Ukrainian operator grabbed a marker from a first aid kit and wrote a note on paper — “Surrender, follow the drone.” Then he stuffed the paper into a plastic ration bag, added dirt for weight, and attached it to another drone. Finally, he dropped it right beside the Orc¹.

His own people shot him in the back

After reading the note, the occupier gestured that he agreed — but kept desperately trying to ask, through signs, whether they were going to kill him. The operator rocked the drone left and right: no, we’re not. What followed was something genuinely hard to describe as anything other than absurd — Ukrainian fighters found themselves protecting a Russian occupier from his own comrades, who had opened fire to stop him from surrendering. The only reason they missed is that Ukrainian drones and artillery were hitting them at exactly the same moment.

Eventually, Ukrainian fighters walked the soldier all the way to their positions, checked him for explosives, confirmed he posed no threat, took him prisoner, and gave him medical aid. So yes — the first time in history that an enemy soldier was captured by a drone.

The mercy on May 9th

Yuriy Fedorenko, commander of the Achilles strike UAV unit, wrote about it on his Telegram channel afterward:

Bakhmut: the mercy on May 9th.

The Achilles strike UAV crew of the 92nd Brigade on the Bakhmut direction located a Russian serviceman who was asking not to be bombed. Our team dropped him a note by drone ordering him to surrender and follow it.

He agreed — even as his own comrades shot at his back. Infantry and scouts from CODE 9.2 of the 92nd Brigade escorted him all the way to Ukrainian positions.

The 92nd Brigade also shared their own footage of the whole thing:

Fedorenko believes this case could become a real signal to other Russian soldiers — that for many of them, surrendering is the only way to stay alive.

¹Orcs – a common term for Russians who support or participate in the armed aggression against Ukraine. Dehumanizing? Yes. Accurate? Also yes.