"Please, I ask for bread": Ukrainian drone operator answers woman's message in the snow

A local resident left a message in the snow asking for bread in the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast. A UAV operator dropped food to the woman from a drone.

Source: 3rd Border Guard Detachment named after Hero of Ukraine Colonel Yevhenii Pikus

Details: While surveying the area with a drone, a 19-year-old pilot of the Phoenix unit, Maksym, who goes by the alias Maliuk ("Baby"), spotted a message written in the snow near one of the houses: "Please, I ask for bread."

"It was written by an elderly woman. She was not writing towards the Russians, but towards us. She was asking us for help," the serviceman said.

He photographed the message and contacted his commanders to ask for permission to help the woman. After receiving approval, Maksym dropped bread and biscuits to her from the drone.

Later, a new message appeared in the snow near the house: "Thank you."

It is impossible to evacuate the woman, as Kostiantynivka is currently a buffer zone.

Maksym joined the Phoenix unit in April 2025 after completing basic combined-arms training. He operates Mavic and Matrix UAVs, which he uses to conduct reconnaissance and detect Russian forces.

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