Spot report by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), 2 November 2014: Anti-Aircraft Rounds Fired at SMM UAV

SUMMARY

Numerous anti-aircraft rounds were fired at an SMM UAV on 2 November 2014.

DETAIL

At a location 2.5km NE of Shyrokyne village (17 km E of Mariupol and east of the line of contact), an SMM Unarmed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) – at a height of 5,000 feet – spotted an armoured personnel carrier (APC) and two Ural trucks at what appeared to be a checkpoint at 13.05hrs on 2 November.

At 13.11hrs, a person in camouflage uniform – standing close to a civilian truck parked approximately 150m from the APC and Urals – was seen to point a man-portable air defence system (Man-Pad) at the SMM UAV. He did not fire. He instead loaded the Man-Pad onto the civilian truck. A canvas covering on the back of the truck was removed, revealing a truck-mounted, anti-aircraft gun (probably a ZU-23), which immediately fired numerous rounds at the SMM UAV, none of which hit it.

The SMM UAV left the area, landing safely at 13.54hrs.

Detailed post-flight analysis of the video footage was completed at 19.30hrs.