FPV "safari" in Mykolaiv region: Vitalii Kim said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are hunting Russian crews

The tactic of the so-called “safari”, which is actively used in the neighboring Kherson region, the Russian occupiers are trying to transfer to Mykolaiv region. It refers to deliberate strikes by FPV-drones on civilian cars and other moving targets.

The threat to the Ochakiv and Kutsurub communities was described by the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration Vitaliy Kim in an interview with “Novyny.LIVE”. According to him, this practice does not occur in Mykolaiv itself. At the same time, Russian drone operators are attempting to attack transport in the coastal communities located near the temporarily occupied Kinburn Spit.

The distance from certain parts of Ochakiv and the Kutsurub community to the peninsula captured by the Russians is only about 2-4 kilometers. This allows the enemy to launch FPV-drones, but at the same time creates serious problems for Russian units in delivering equipment, ammunition, and concealing positions.

Explaining why the Russians have not succeeded in massively applying in the Mykolaiv region the tactic known from attacks on civilians in Kherson region, the head of the RMA Vitaliy Kim noted:

“There is none in Mykolaiv, but in the Mykolaiv region they are trying. The distance from Ochakiv and the Kutsurub community to the occupied Kinburn Spit is 2 kilometers, 4 kilometers, but due to logistical difficulties it is hard to hide there, difficult to deliver everything. Our defense forces conduct counter-battery warfare successfully, but they are positioned further away there”.

According to the regional head, cases of deliberate attacks by Russian FPV-drones on cars have already been recorded, but so far they remain isolated. Ukrainian defenders identify the locations where enemy operators work and force them to move further from the administrative border of the region. Currently the Defense Forces are searching for 2 Russian crews that launch drones toward communities of the Mykolaiv region. Information about the exact locations of enemy groups and the course of the operation is not disclosed for security reasons.

Speaking about countering Russian FPV-drone operators and pushing their positions away from the region’s borders, the head of the Mykolaiv RMA Vitaliy Kim reported:

“Our guys hunt their pilots, and these pilots are located farther and farther from our administrative border. Right now we are also in the process of chasing two crews”.

The statement by Vitaliy Kim came against the backdrop of a constant intensification of drone terror on the coastal territories. During 21 June 2026 Russian forces 7 times attacked with FPV-drones the Ochakiv and Kutsurub communities, damaging in Dmytrivka 2 private houses. The day before, 20 June 2026, an attack drone of the type “Molniya” struck a bakery in Parutyne. 3 men aged 38, 40 and 45 were wounded, and a building, 2 passenger cars and a truck were also damaged.

Russian forces continue to use the proximity of the occupied Kinburn Spit to strike settlements of the Mykolaiv region. At the same time, effective counter-battery efforts and the search for drone operators force enemy crews to move their positions further away and make it harder for them to conduct a systematic “hunt” for civilians.

Previously we wrote:

• KABs over the community and drones near houses: Mykolaiv region experienced another day of attacks
• Russia again found a “strategic target” – a village bakery in Mykolaiv region
• Enemy drone struck a bakery in the Kutsurub community: two wounded
• More “military targets” of Russia: in Mykolaiv in one day a kindergarten, residential buildings and a power line were damaged
• Seven drone attacks in one day: Russians again kept Mykolaiv region in their sights