Ukraine intercepted a Russian recon drone painted to look like it was Ukrainian

Russian forces have begun disguising their reconnaissance drones to make them look like Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles according to recent footage from the downing of a Russian drone painted with Ukrainian insignias.   

“They painted Zala black and applied Ukrainian yellow and blue liveries, believing it would help,” wrote Ukrainian activist and lawyer Serhii Sternenko on Telegram about a Russian ZALA reconnaissance drone intercepted by Ukraine according to Militarnyi.

Photo Credit: Telegram @ssternenko / Edited by The Daily Digest

Militaryni noted that the Russian ZALA drone also sported a WWII German insignia and that the paint job was likely done to help the recon drone evade Ukrainian drone interceptors, which have been hunting Russian reconnaissance drones using new first-person view (FPV) interceptor drones. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @ssternenko / Edited by The Daily Digest

On August 28th, Sternenko disclosed in a report on Telegram that Ukrainian interceptor drones had successfully brought down over 100 Russian reconnaissance drones.

Sternenko published a video on his Telegram channel reportedly showing 115 Russian drones being intercepted and destroyed by drones that were bought with money raised by the Heavenly Rusoriz project. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @ssternenko

“This video alone shows 115 downed Russian reconnaissance UAVs – Orlan, Zala, Superkam, and more. Russian drones could adjust Iskander missile systems and KABs, but they will not harm anyone,” Sternenko wrote in his post according to Militarnyi. 

Russian reconnaissance drones like the Supercam S350, ZALA 421-16E, and Orlan-10 are used by Russian forces to examine the rear areas of the Ukrainian frontline and can help enemy commanders direct artillery fire and loitering munitions.

Photo Credit: Telegram @ssternenko

In August 2024, combat footage and reports of Ukrainian interceptor drones finding and destroying Russian reconnaissance drones began making their way online and into headlines. Ukraine’s new drones were proving to be quite effective based on the video evidence at the time.

Photo Credit: Telegram @ssternenko

On August 16th, the Telegram channel of the 110th Mechanized Brigade's Unmanned Systems Battalion published a video of its drone operators downing a Russian ZALA frontline reconnaissance drone using a modified first-person view drone to attack the Russian drone and knock it out of the sky.

The 11oth Brigade's drone operators downed the Russian ZALA drone somewhere south of the village of Mykhailivka in the Donetsk region according to the Telegram channel War Archive, which geolocated the attack from combat footage according to Militarnyi.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vitaly V. Kuzmin, CC BY-SA 4.0

"The footage captures a Ukrainian FPV drone ascending to a high altitude, chasing and eventually attacking the Russian UAV," Militarnyi explained.

Photo Credit: Telegram @rubpak

"Upon closer inspection of the video, this drone can be identified as a ZALA 421-16E, a model frequently used by the Russian invaders for reconnaissance," Militarnyi added.

Photo Credit: Telegram @rubpak

The first-person view drone used by Ukrainian drone operators was outfitted with a remote-detonator fragmentation warhead, which allowed the operator to down the Russian ZALA drone once it was close enough to destroy it.

Photo Credit: Telegram @rubpak

The downing of Russian reconnaissance drones in mid-flight had become a common occurrence in the skies above Ukraine by that point in August. Militarnyi reported on a similar case in August, drone footage from that incident was released by the Come Back Alive Foundation.

The Come Back Alive Foundation published video footage of a Russian Orlan-10 drone being downed by a Ukrainian first-person view drone that the foundation had donated to Ukraine's Defense Forces for the purposes of hunting and downing Russian reconnaissance drones. 

Footage showed what the Come Back Alive Foundation said was a drone donated as a part of its Dronefall project spotting and then ramming an Orlan-10 while it was in flight. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @savelifeua

The video showed the incident from the perspective of the Ukrainian drone. It began with the drone approaching the Russian Orlan-10 from above.

Photo Credit: Telegram @savelifeua

The Ukrainian drone quickly moved to smash into the Orlan-10 and appeared to run into the Russian drone's rear stabilizers before the video cut out. It is unclear from that footage if the Orlan-10 was destroyed. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @savelifeua

The Ukrainian military news website Militarnyi noted the Telegram channel WarArchive determined the incident occurred somewhere over the embattled region of Chasiv Yar. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @savelifeua

Militarnyi also reported that the Come Back Alive Foundation’s Dronefall project began on August 7th, and it aimed to shoot down 1,000 Russian reconnaissance drones using modernized first-person view interceptor drones. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @savelifeua

The 38th Marine Brigade was one of the first Ukrainian units to receive the first batch of interceptor first-person view drones from the foundation and has already shot down at least 9 Russian reconnaissance drones.

Photo Credit: Telegram @savelifeua

“The project involves not only the purchase of modernized FPV kamikazes, but also the creation and provision of teams that will use them,” Militarnyi reporters. “In particular, it involves the transfer of pickup trucks, communications, power, and night optics.”

Photo Credit: Telegram @savelifeua