FPV drone on fiber optics hits emblem on evacuation vehicle carrying foreign reporters in Donetsk Oblast

Russian forces attacked a humanitarian mission vehicle with a drone in Donetsk Oblast on the morning of 8 November, according to Yevhen Tkachov, head of the Proliska humanitarian mission in the region.

The incident occurred at the entrance to Kostiantynivka. The vehicle, marked with humanitarian mission insignia, was carrying volunteers Yevhen Tkachov and Oleh Tkachenko, along with journalists from Austria (Christian Verschütz) and Spain. The group was planning to film a report about evacuations.

"We were going as volunteers to evacuate people: we had four or five addresses with chaplain Oleh Tkachenko in his armored vehicle. At the entrance to Kostiantynivka, in the Novosilivka area, we had just turned, drove around the corner and saw a drone on fiber optics hovering 10 or 15 meters away. When we saw it, we stopped the car, and it started moving. We jumped out of the car and at that moment it attacked the emblem," Tkachov said, Suspilne reported.

According to Tkachov, the Russians deliberately targeted the vehicle with a drone—hitting directly on the humanitarian mission emblem and damaging the engine. He believes the Russians used an FPV drone on fiber optics with a cumulative RPG warhead: the vehicle was burned through completely, but no one was injured.

The damaged vehicle has been removed from Kostiantynivka, and officials are now determining whether it can be repaired. Tkachov said that last week, Russians twice attempted to attack Proliska's vehicle, but were unsuccessful.

The Austrian journalist worked for ORF, which published video footage of the damaged vehicle.

On 18 July, Russian forces dropped an aerial bomb on Kostiantynivka and attacked a volunteer vehicle with a drone. One woman died. On 23 October in Kramatorsk, a journalist and cameraman from the Freedom channel were killed when Russia struck their vehicle with a drone.