UKRAINE, Sep. 5 — Increased activity of Russian first-person view (FPV) drones was documented on the Izium-Sloviansk highway, reported Maksym Strelnyk, people’s deputy of Izium city council. Last night, he said, Russian drones hit several cars on this route.  

Strelnyk also warned the locals not to move along the highway without a “critical need” and to pick “alternative routes” for their movement. 

The Russian tactic of hitting civilians who show “no signs of direct participation in hostilities” with FPV drones was documented by the UN. 

They began to actively use FPV drones to attack civilians in 2024, taking the logistics around Kherson and the surrounding region in southern Ukraine under control. Soon, the threat of FPV drones, including fiber optic FPVs, spread to other regions of Ukraine. 

In 2014, before Ukraine liberated Sloviansk from Russian forces, Izium-Sloviansk was referred to as the “highway of death” because of constant Russian shelling. Now, it is one of the major logistics routes connecting the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions.

This August, Gwara celebrated its 10th anniversary. Whatever awaits Ukraine in Russia’s war, our Kharkiv-based newsroom plans to keep reporting on it. Please, support our journalism by buying us a coffee or subscribing to our Patreon.

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