Spot Report 2/2021: SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle lost near government-controlled Romanivka

On the morning of 7 March, an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was flying over government-controlled areas of Donetsk region.

At about 12:00 Kyiv time, while the UAV was near Opytne (government-controlled, 12km north-west of Donetsk), it experienced a dual GPS technical failure.

The SMM commanded the UAV to return towards its base at Stepanivka (government-controlled, 54km north of Donetsk), and initiated an orbit manoeuvre in an effort to regain a GPS signal. The Mission gradually lost spatial control of the UAV, and at approximately 13:30 it commanded the aircraft to conduct an emergency landing, which was not successful.

At about 14:00, during a second landing attempt from an altitude of about 3,500ft, the aircraft became uncontrollable and began descending rapidly. It crashed at 14:02 in a field about 1.5km east of Romanivka (government-controlled, 41km north of Donetsk).

It is premature to draw conclusions about the causes of the incident. The Mission is prioritising efforts to locate the crash site, and will report relevant findings.