Russian forces have begun to disguise their Zala reconnaissance drones with Ukrainian insignia in an effort to evade detection.
Volunteer Serhiy Sternenko shared footage showing the downing of such a drone.
"They painted Zala black and applied Ukrainian yellow and blue liveries, believing it would help," Sternenko wrote on Telegram.
The Russian drone also featured the Balkenkreuz insignia, which was used by the German military during World War II.
This tactic was intended to deceive Ukrainian drone operators, who use FPV drones to track and neutralize Russian reconnaissance UAVs.
However, this strategy has proven ineffective since the ZALA 421’s unique design makes it easily recognizable.
The ZALA drones are built to perform reconnaissance missions both day and night, transmitting real-time video from distances of up to 35 kilometers.
Although the manufacturer claims the ZALA 421-16E2 system is capable of silent flight, Ukrainian forces have still been able to detect and successfully target them with FPV drones.
Using drones to intercept reconnaissance UAVs is a relatively new and promising approach in air defense development.
In Ukraine, shooting down enemy reconnaissance drones with FPV systems has become more common, and it is likely that the Ukrainian defense sector is advancing work on a dedicated FPV-based anti-drone system.
