Watch: Ukraine shot down its own attack drone over Kiev after losing control

Footage from the incident shows a slow-moving drone in the sky over Kiev with anti-aircraft tracer fire in its direction. Gleb Garanich/Reuters

The statement said the incident was «probably» caused by a technical malfunction of the drone.

Footage of the incident showed a slow-moving drone in the sky. over Kiev with tracer air defense fire in its direction.

Kyiv local administration confirmed that «air defense is working» while the drone flew over the capital.

Bayraktar drones have proven to be one of Ukraine's most effective combat vehicles, capable of destroying Russian tanks and providing long-range surveillance.

A relatively cheap gizmo costing around $5 million per aircraft made it the armed drone of choice for Kiev forces for the first time who purchased it in 2019.

With a wingspan of 12m, the Bayraktar can stay airborne for 27 hours and can fly at 25,000 feet. .

Airborne laser can mark a target for any four laser-guided missiles.

Russian hackers at work

According to unconfirmed reports, Russian electronic warfare specialists were able to gain access to the drones during the operation by hacking into the satellite radio link the plane was flying.

When the aircraft was eventually shot down, crowds of Ukrainians watching below cheered.

At first, Andriy Yermak, Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, stated that it was an enemy UAV shot down over the capital.

Explosions were reportedly heard in Kiev, city ​​under surveillance after a night shelling by Russia from about 15:00 to 15:00. 20 minutes.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said that firefighters put out a fire on the first floor of a four-story shopping center in the Solomensky district, where a drone fell.

Firefighters According to the former heavyweight boxer, the fire spread over 500 square feet and caused some surface damage, but no casualties were reported.

No casualties were reported.