Ukraine Beats Russia in War's First Drone Dogfight, Video Shows

Video of a purported clash between two drones belonging to Ukrainian and Russian armed forces has gone viral online.

The clip was shared on the Telegram social media channel of XD Dnipr with the message, "the first air battle recorded on video between Ukrainian and Russian Mavic drones."

"The victory was won by the drone of Serhiy Prytula," the message said, referring to the Ukrainian politician whose charity helps raise funds for equipment that can be used by Kyiv's forces, which include communication devices.

Prytula tweeted the same video, which as of Thursday afternoon had received more than half a million views.

"WW1-style duel. Ukrainian Mavic-drone, which we have delivered to one of the airborne units in Donetsk region, destroys Russian opponent. Amazing!" he wrote.

A Twitter user said in the replies that the site of the clash had been geolocated to the skies above Marinka.

Newsweek reached out to Prytula for comment.

Aviation news outlet Aerotime Hub said the unverified footage was likely to be "both the first example of air-to-air drone combat and the first instance of a small commercial drone engaging another one of its kind during the war in Ukraine."

It said that the Mavic model, which is made by Chinese company DJI, is used by Ukrainian and Russian armed forces as well as volunteer and paramilitary formations in the war.

Prytula's website said that the Mavic models as well as Autel drones with thermal imaging optics are among the devices that his charity purchases for use by Ukrainian forces.

He said that the drone's ability to do aerial reconnaissance has allowed Ukrainian forces "to promptly adjust artillery fire while the occupier constantly changes its location."

It comes as Russia is increasingly relying on drones which are posing an additional problem for Ukraine's air defenses.

Although publicly neutral, Iran is supplying UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to Russia, the United States said in July, and Russia received its first shipments of Iranian UAVs a month later. These included the "Mohajer-6," "Shahed-129," and "Shahed-191," which can all be armed with munitions designed to be air-dropped.

The Ukrainian military announced and shared photo evidence on September 13 that it had successfully downed an Iranian "Shahed-136" UAV near the frontline Ukrainian town of Kupyansk.

Axios reported last month that Kyiv requested intelligence from Israel on Iranian UAV shipments to Russia.

"Based on the extensive support so far in the war, it should be expected Ukraine is also seeking similar counter UAV assistance from NATO," the intelligence firm Flashpoint said in a blog post on Tuesday.