Gavriil Grigorov / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
A newly surfaced video appears to show a member of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s security detail holding an interceptor drone while watching over his boss.
The undated clip was posted on Tuesday by Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, a Ukrainian analyst known locally for his expertise on drone warfare.
The video appears to depict Putin inspecting and greeting senior uniformed officers in a parade-like fashion at Moscow’s Red Square — a sign that the footage was filmed during a Victory Day parade on May 9.
In the footage, shot on the sidelines of the parade, a man can be seen in the foreground following Putin’s movements while holding a device resembling a Russian Yolka interceptor drone and its launcher.
The Yolka, fired from a handheld launcher, features four fins on its front and another four larger fins with propellers on the back. In the clip, similar fins with propellers can be seen on the device in the man’s hands.
The Yolka is a kinetic interceptor that’s meant to fly into the path of an incoming first-person-view drone and destroy the attacking device by collision.
Business Insider could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage.
However, parts of the video align closely with a livestream of Putin meeting contingent commanders at this year’s Victory Day parade. Several officers, such as a colonel of the Russian army and a colonel of the Russian airborne forces, are seen in both videos saluting and shaking hands with Putin.
The man seen holding the device is also dressed consistently with what Putin’s bodyguard detail was wearing on that day: with a suit, navy blue tie, and a red lanyard.
Additionally, two of Putin’s other bodyguards, seen in the clip of the apparent drone, can also be seen in official TV footage of the parade segment.
Screenshot/Russian Embassy in Kazakhstan YouTube Channel
The appearance of a Yolka drone in Putin’s security detail coincides with Russia’s heightened drone defenses at this year’s parade, which Ukraine threatened to disrupt with uncrewed aerial system attacks.
Long-range drone strikes that month had forced Moscow’s four airports to close multiple times.
The Yolka, however, is more suited to fighting lighter drones, and its appearance at the parade could indicate that Russia also prepared a contingency for a drone attack from within the city.
While militaries have historically relied heavily on electronic warfare to counter uncrewed aerial threats, the recent rise of unjammable fiber-optic drones, which use cables instead of radio, has put greater emphasis on air defenses that use kinetic force.
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