Drone footage shows Russian invasion of Vovchansk as Ukrainian soldiers fight back
Watching a live drone feed, it was possible to make out three people running down a street in a frontline town in northeastern Ukraine.
“Are they Russians?” I asked a Ukrainian soldier, who was also on the ground in Vovchansk and was showing us the footage from a secret location as we spoke to him via video link from outside the town.
“Yes, yes,” said Denys, 42, the commander of a reconnaissance unit.
“They come in groups like this of three to five soldiers.”
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Other footage from Monday shared with Sky News appeared to be of more Russian troops inside the town – just three days after Russia launched a surprise assault across its border into Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.
Sky News has verified the location of the images.
“They are advancing in a residential area of Vovchansk and moving into people’s houses,” Denys said.
“This is just the first wave… They’re testing our defences, they’re preparing their artillery. When they completely enter the town, they’ll bring in their reserves.”
Sky News has verified the location of the images
Denys was speaking from a position where he and his team were operating their drone, hunting for Russian targets for Ukrainian forces to strike.
Asked what their main task was, he spun the camera he was speaking to us on around to let one of his soldiers – he described them as his “fellow hero brothers” – answer.
“We will fight under these difficult conditions by whatever means,” said the serviceman, called Andrii.
“We simply have no other choice because behind us are our homes, our families, our children.”
Russian forces have unleashed a ferocious barrage of fire against the town, using a combination of airstrikes, gliding bombs, armed drones and heavy artillery.
Another feed, shared by Denys, captured apocalyptic scenes of smoke spiralling into the air from multiple impact sites across Vovchansk.
“The town was not prepared for this bombardment,” he said.
Drone footage shows the Russian assault on Vovchansk
Asked how dangerous it was for him and his team, Denys panned around his makeshift base.
“If they target us with a guided bomb… it’ll be a mass grave,” he said, smiling.
Denys had been a senior police officer and then a lawyer before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Then, like many civilians, he volunteered to serve to defend his country and has been fighting ever since.
But, in an unusual move for a member of the military, Denys has publicly expressed frustration at what he believes was a failure by his own side to ensure Ukraine’s northeastern border with Russia was better defended by landmines and fortifications.
This was despite the Ukrainian military repelling an initial assault by Russia against the Kharkiv region in the first months of the war.
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On Friday “we saw the first breaches of the state border line by enemy armoured vehicles – the initial rush,” he said. “They passed without encountering any mined positions.”
Explaining why he had chosen to speak out about his concerns, he said: “We’re fighting for freedom and truth. We defend our interests, the interests of our state, voluntarily. And we believe that this truth needs to be spoken.”
Having fought to defend Kharkiv once already, Denys said he and his team now “feel some deja vu”.
He added: “It’s shocking. We’re having to defend ourselves again – losing territory and the lives of soldiers.”
He also said, this time around, the Russians were more prepared.
“The enemy prepared their FPV [attack drone] forces,” he said. “They loaded up with an incredible amount of MLRS [multiple launch rocket systems] and artillery.”
As well as capturing images of Russian troops on the ground, the drone footage also showed Ukraine fighting back.
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Russian forces bear down on Vovchansk
One clip was of what Denys said was a group of Russian troops on the edge of Vovchansk, carrying a wounded soldier on a stretcher.
His team relayed the coordinates of the location to another unit. Moments later, what looks to be a Ukrainian strike chugs up smoke in the area of the Russian position.
Read more:
Russia ‘advancing from multiple positions’
Putin seizes chance to hit Kharkiv
As he prepared to fight into the night, Denys had a message for Ukraine’s top commanders.
“Trust your soldiers, your officers. Trust those on the ground. Give them the opportunity, give them help, give them the chance to defend this land,” he said.
“There are many people here who voluntarily came to give their lives for this country. The command should respect them, trust them, and allow them to do their job.”
Russia’s UK ambassador has told Sky News that Ukraine’s recent attacks risk escalating the conflict to “World War III” as he partly blamed the UK.
Andrei Kelin warned that Ukraine’s actions “are bringing the conflict to a different level of escalation”, in an interview with Sky News’ Yalda Hakim, and said Kyiv should “not try to engulf World War III”.
“That’s the very worst case scenario that we can imagine,” he said.
More than a hundred Ukrainian drones were deployed inside Russia over the weekend, destroying more than 40 warplanes in an attack Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “will undoubtedly be in history books”.
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New Ukraine drone attack video analysed
Mr Kelin pointed the finger at the UK when he said Ukraine must have had assistance in the attacks.
“[This] kind of attack involves, of course, provision of very high technology, so-called geospaced data, which only can be done by those who have it in possession. And this is London and Washington,” he said.
“I don’t believe that America [is involved], that has been denied by President Trump, definitely, but it has not been denied by London.
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Explosion recorded on Crimea bridge
“We perfectly know how much London is involved, how deeply British forces are involved in working together with Ukraine.”
On Wednesday, Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin told him “very strongly” that Russia “will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields”.
The US president said that he discussed the attack with Mr Putin during a phone call that lasted more than an hour.
“It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace,” he wrote.
Mr Kelin repeated this sentiment, telling Sky News: “It is up to the Ministry of Defence to make a right solution, but we have to respond to it.”
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “We never comment on operational matters at home or abroad.”
World
Bodies of husband and wife taken into Gaza by Hamas recovered after special operation by Israeli forces
The bodies of a couple taken into Gaza by Hamas during the 7 October attacks have been recovered by Israeli forces, Benjamin Netanyahu has announced.
The Israeli prime minister said the bodies of husband and wife Gad Haggai, 72, and Judi Weinstein Haggai, 70, were recovered during a special operation by the Israeli military and the country’s security agency, Shin Bet.
Mr Netanyahu said they were killed on 7 October, 2023, and their bodies were taken into Gaza by Hamas.
In a statement, he said: “Together with all the citizens of Israel, my wife and I extend our heartfelt condolences to the dear families.
“Our hearts ache for the most terrible loss. May their memory be blessed.
“We will not rest or be silent until we return all of our abductees home – the living and the dead alike.”
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The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum has been campaigning for the safe return of all Israeli citizens held hostage by Hamas.
The hostage families said in a statement: “The return of Judi and Gad is painful and heartbreaking, yet it also brings healing to our uncertainty.
“Their return reminds us all that it is the state’s duty to bring everyone home, so that we, the families, together with all the people of Israel, can begin the process of healing and recovery.
“Decision-makers must do everything necessary to reach an agreement that will return all 56 remaining hostages – the living for rehabilitation and the deceased for burial. There is no need to wait another 608 agonising days for this.
“The mission can be completed as early as tomorrow morning. This is what the majority of the Israeli people want.”
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March 2025: Thousands call for longer ceasefire deal for hostages
Most of the hostages returned alive to Israel so far have been released as part of deals with Hamas during two temporary ceasefires in late 2023 and early 2025.
The most recent ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners fell apart in March.
Israel has rejected calls for an unconditional or permanent ceasefire, saying Hamas cannot stay in Gaza.
On Wednesday, the US vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution that demanded an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza and unhindered aid access across the war-ravaged territory.
The other 14 countries on the council voted in favour of the draft.
“The United States has been clear: We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza,” said Dorothy Shea, acting US ambassador to the UN, ahead of the vote.
She told the council it would also undermine ongoing US-led efforts to broker a ceasefire.
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Hamas took 251 hostages and killed more than 1,200 people in its attacks on Israel in October 2023.
Israel has responded with an air and ground assault on Gaza – and has recently escalated its bombing campaign.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the war. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Israel says its two war aims are to destroy Hamas and release the hostages.
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