Training to shoot down a drone with a shotgun, October 16, 2025. VADIM MOISEENKO
A white Ford pickup truck sped along a dirt track in the Dnipropetrovsk region of eastern Ukraine. Two soldiers sat side by side on the rear platform, backs against the cab. One fired a shotgun frantically at a drone chasing the vehicle.
Eight shots rang out in three seconds. Two hit their mark. The pickup stopped. The drone continued, flew over the pickup and landed a little further away. It was only an exercise; the real target was not the drone itself, but a mock FPV drone (a loitering munition) suspended from a five-meter cable.
The three soldiers got out of the pickup to inspect the dummy target and count the number of hits. These were small holes made by the pellets from a hunting cartridge, the only type of ammunition with a reasonable chance of shooting down a fast-flying object. The drone pilot and his assistant installed a new, undamaged decoy at the end of the cable. Another shooter took position on the pickup platform, and the drill began again.
"We can save so many lives! All troops at the front urgently need to be trained in shooting down drones," urged chief instructor Ihor Pouchkariov, AKA Nojevik (knife). "90% of our casualties and losses of equipment are caused by enemy drones," said the 53-year-old soldier, who created the training program "Dronocide."
