In what appears as a setback for Russia, Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B, a heavy unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), was shot down by one of its own aircraft in Ukraine's Donetsk region.
Several social media users shared videos of the incident and the remains of Okhotnik, meaning “hunter” in Russian.
Videos showed Okhotnik-B being shot at from close range and falling to the ground. The wreckage on the ground confirmed that it was Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B.
According to multiple reports, it may be an incident of friendly fire. The incident happened around 10 miles behind Ukrainian lines.
Video evidence suggests that Okhotnik-B may have lost communication or control following which it was brought down by Russia's own aircraft.
Ukrainian online newspaper, Ukrainska Pravda, citing Ukrainian air force sources claimed that the Russian aircraft was shot down in a friendly fire incident.
There is still no clarity on what led to the incident.
Russian military enthusiasts too confirmed that the unmanned combat aerial vehicle was brought down.
The wreckage offers Ukraine a chance to explore foreign material exploitation. “They will disassemble it down to the last screw and, of course, familiarise themselves with its rich internal contents,” a user on the unofficial Telegram channel of the Russian air force was quoted as saying. “I really want to hope that it was a loss of control due to something failing … or the UAV’s brains went crazy for their own reasons, and not the drone being intercepted by the enemy,” the user added.