RIA Novosti: Russian Soldier Claims Shootdown of Shark Recon Drone
A Russian serviceman says he shot down a $300,000 Shark reconnaissance drone near the LPR-DPR border. He says radar helped spot it at night.
A Russian serviceman with the callsign «Olimp» told RIA Novosti that he shot down a Ukrainian Armed Forces Shark reconnaissance drone worth $300,000 near the border between the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) and Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
According to him, in 2023 he volunteered for the special military operation and served in an anti-aircraft missile unit. Two years later, he transferred to the unmanned systems forces as an operator, and is now a squad commander of FPV-drone crews in an unmanned systems unit of Russia’s Southern Military District.
«Olimp» said the first drone he destroyed was in October last year in the LPR-DPR area. He specified that spotting the reconnaissance UAV was difficult because it was nighttime, and a radar station crew helped locate it.
He said he later managed to destroy one more drone personally and two more as part of a crew.
He added that the unit received payments for the downed drones, which allowed them to upgrade their crew for greater effectiveness.