This is the moment a Russian soldier blew up his unit’s base and then dramatically defected to Ukraine.
The footage shows a drone pilot (FPV) using only his call sign ‘Silver’ destroying the camp and then switching sides.
In the clip, officers are seen cleaning their weapons and talking to each other before going to sleep.
Then a huge firestorm breaks out in the basement dormitory, where about 15 men are staying at the time.
According to reports, the battalion commander was seriously injured in the explosion, which occurred near the Storm-Z unit.
A snapshot of the moment a Russian soldier blew up his own camp before defecting to the Ukrainian front line
The pilot of a first person view (FPV) drone blew up the headquarters of a Storm-Z unit
Storm-Z units are usually made up of ex-convicts and former mercenaries.
Silver’s attack and overthrow had been planned for months and were prepared down to the last detail with the help of the Legion for the Freedom of Russia (FRL).
As the FPV drone pilot left the unit’s base, he dropped infantry mines on the road outside, then took a predetermined route toward the Ukrainian front line.
Silver said at a news conference in Kiev on Wednesday that he had become disillusioned with his unit after witnessing it commit atrocities.
He added that he had signed up “to protect my motherland,” not “to die for Putin.”
The explosion destroyed the basement dormitory where 15 commanders were sleeping
A FRL commander with the call sign ‘Caesar’ told the Telegraph that the defection showed how “smart, brave people” could help topple Putin’s regime.
He added that the drone pilot would soon go to the front lines to fight against Putin’s forces.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence service said Silver had provided “valuable information” about Russian combat plans and units.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are conducting a program to convert displaced Russian soldiers, entitled “I Want to Live.”