Ukrainian drone drops water for dying Russian soldier after he pleaded for his life - before leading him to safety

24 September 2024, 18:14

This is the moment a Russian solider was saved by a frontline Ukrainian battalion - after he pleaded with a drone operator to spare his life.

The K-2 Battalion, part of the Ukrainian Army’s 54th Brigade, posted the video on social media this week.

The video appeared to have been filmed in late summer on a battlefield in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

The video shows a Ukrainian drone dropping a bomb on an injured Russian soldier who was taking refuge in a trench under an earth arch.

The grenade fails to kill him - and the drone returns to find the solider has crawled away from the arch and is lying on his back, with his hands pleading to be spared.

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So the drone operator, taking pity on the surrendering soldier, returns to base where they load the drone with a bottle of water and a note on how he should return to safety.

The Russian solder crosses himself and waves ‘thank you’ when it returns with the water.

Despite a leg injury, the solder manages to walk some distance, stopping for cigarettes and any one point to inject himself with a painkiller.

He follows the drone back to the Ukrainian lines, where he eventually collapses to the ground before being dragged away by two Ukrainian infantrymen.