The drone passed in front of him, flying very low before suddenly gaining height when it saw children playing in the yard. Three of Anatolii’s siblings were among the children, as he told the Washington Post: “He spotted the children and started to go upstairs. That’s when I realized something was going to happen.”
Anatolii then succeeded in neutralizing the drone, undoubtedly saving the lives of the children, his mother inside the house as well as the residents of the neighborhood.
But how did a 12-year-old boy find himself in such a situation?
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“Humain Safari”
Anatolii knows how to defend himself against Russian drones. A 12-year-old boy is capable of neutralizing a drone. This certainly shows that the border between soldiers and civilians is very fine and diminishes a little more every day. According to an expert interviewed by the Washington Post, this story demonstrates a nightmarish situation imposed on the population: “This is a truly horrible problem that the Russians are imposing on Ukrainian civilians in these cities where they use the human safari tactic.
These attacks began two years ago, forcing Ukrainian forces to deploy means of defense against drones but this is not always enough. Indeed, in April 2025, the report of an independent United Nations human rights commission indicated that there were 42 deaths and nearly 300 injuries among civilians each month.
The aim of this tactic would be to systematically terrorize the population. And since Russia equipped its drones with fiber optic wire, it is difficult for the Ukrainian army to defend its population.
The wire is a hair-thin cable that unwinds in flight over a distance of 19 kilometers, or more if the explosive charge is less heavy. The wire then transmits the video images to the Russian operator.
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Optical fiber
Ukrainians have noticed the increasingly recurrent presence of these fiber threads near their homes near the borders. Anatolii was particularly curious about it and when he noticed a soldier manipulating the wires, he approached him.
The soldier, an explosives specialist, had taught him three army techniques for cutting fiber optic wire safely. According to him, you had to wait 15 seconds after the drone passed to take action, so as not to be targeted.
A month ago, while Anatolii heard the characteristic noise of the drone, he also saw the fiber optic wire trailing behind the machine.
While the drone was heading towards the children, the boy came down from his tree, ran about twenty meters and followed the soldier’s instructions… except one: “I didn’t have time. So I counted to 10 and broke it.”
The wire broke and the drone spiraled into a wild, swampy area next to the neighborhood.
The soldier who had taught Anatolii the techniques was impressed, as can be deduced from his statement to the Washington Post: “How can a civilian, especially a child, do such a thing? Not all soldiers would have been able to react in a split second like that.”
The boy has kept the fiber optic wire as a souvenir ever since. He was hailed as a hero in Ukraine but harassed on Russian Telegram channels. His family of seven therefore temporarily moved into a two-room apartment that was loaned to them, two hours from his home.
Front, oil, economy… The situation is not great for Russia which is losing ground in Ukraine
