Ukraine Video Shows Night Owl Take Out Russian Drone
A video of an owl allegedly taking out a Russian drone in Ukraine has gone viral on social media. The incident reportedly occurred in Donetsk Oblast and involved an owl flying directly at the drone.
Newsweek cannot independently verify the incident in the video on X, formerly Twitter.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian and Ukrainian Ministries of Defense via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Censor.Net and some of the posts of the video on social media have alleged that the owl is from “Ukrainian biolabs,” referring to a conspiracy theory spread by Russia at the start of the war that the United States is running biolabs and developing biological weapons in Kyiv.
The biolabs claim, initially made by Major General Igor Konashenkov and spread by Moscow’s media, was later backed up by the Russian Ministry of Defense, as it stated it had obtained evidence Ukraine and the U.S. had collaborated to develop biological weapons.
Ukraine denied the claims. Kyiv’s Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement, “No foreign biological laboratories operate in Ukraine. Statements recently made by individual politicians are not true and are a deliberate distortion of the facts.”
The conspiracy theory dates back to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What To Know
A post by the X account MilitaryNewsUA, run by a Ukrainian military blogger, alleges that the Russian drone struck by the owl was conducting a reconnaissance mission in eastern Ukraine. Fighting in the Donetsk region has escalated recently as Russia has seized Kurakhove and is trying to seize cities westward, including Pokrovsk.
The owl is not the first animal to accidentally become part of the combat zone, as cats were sent to the frontlines at the beginning of the war to deal with mice and rats that were destroying uniforms, blankets and food. Many have since been adopted by Ukrainian soldiers fighting Moscow.
An X account called the Feline Defense Force was started in 2022 to document the friendships formed between soldiers and cats.
Ukraine is also using robotic dogs to support those on the frontlines, as they are capable of delivering ammunition and conducting surveillance. The remote-controlled robot dogs were introduced in the summer of 2024. They were reportedly developed by the British risk-management company and drone manufacturer Brit Alliance, which has sent more than 30 of the devices to Ukraine.
The robot dogs have become a key asset to the Ukrainian forces as they can reportedly run up to 9 miles per hour, have a battery life of five hours, and carry the same heat signature as a rabbit, meaning they are nearly undetectable to Russian UAVs.
What People Are Saying
Iuliia Mendel, a former spokesperson for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, on X: “NATO laboratories in Ukraine have designed owls that fight Russian drones. Check the video!”
Tim White, a journalist focusing on Ukraine, on X: “News from the frontline in #Donetsk region. A Russian drone got florked by a bird, possibly an owl. Those #Ukraine biolabs are really working well.”
Anton Gerashchenko, the former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, on X: “A video appeared online showing a Ukrainian owl shooting down a Russian reconnaissance drone in Donetsk region. How soon will Nebenzya complain about Ukrainian biolabbed owls?”
What Happens Next
It is unclear how Russia will react to the alleged owl incident as the third anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine nears.
Related Articles
