I have sympathy for this man. He chose to live and now his whole life is ahead of him. It's going to be hard, first as a POW, maybe even as a refugee (he is probably considered a deserter). But that difficulty is something he can overcome. He was brave enough to surrender despite the spoonfuls of Russian propaganda served to him daily.

Also, great job drone operator. More videos like this need to exist.

[–] Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works 27 points 3 months ago (2 children)

What a fantastic level of humanity you have. “Orcs in the meat grinder” are (sometimes) sons and husbands and fathers etc first and foremost. It’s good to not necessarily conflate every single soldier with the regime.

[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago

We're all just caught in the gears of history. People who seek redemption and choose peace are profoundly heroic.

[–] TriflingToad@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

quite frankly disgusted with how uncommon this stance is in this sub

[–] Cephalotrocity@biglemmowski.win 4 points 3 months ago

Let's see you get your home broken into by an armed gang and see how magnanimous you are to the burglars beating your family do death.

Reconciliation first, then sympathy.

[–] cheese_greater@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

~~Slava, drones!~~

In Soviet Russia: Drone respect drone

[–] d00ery@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Can I preface this by saying Russians should not be in Ukraine!

However, I do wonder about how Russians are able to surrender to drones in general. I've seen quite a few videos of people who look unlikely to fight getting grenades dropped on them. One could definitely argue that artillery, bombs, or missiles don't really allow people to surrender either, though I guess I've seen less of that close up.

[–] Sibbo@sopuli.xyz 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

On the other hand, drones keep the Ukrainian soldier safe in case the Russian soldier does end up fighting back.

[–] ChronosTriggerWarning@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago

This guy didn't surrender, he was rescued by Ukraine.

[–] 314xel@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Why did he throw the grenade to his rear?

[–] FaceDeer@fedia.io 25 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Maybe to make it absolutely clear "I'm getting rid of my grenades, this isn't some trick to suicide-bomb you guys."

[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago

My guess is between the cuts of video there was a note dropped with instructions to the POW. Like "follow the drone. leave all weapons behind. when you get to the stopping point, remove all body armor and helmet, lie down and wait for verbal instructions". And I'm guessing he got halfway to where he was supposed to, and realized he still had a grenade. By throwing it back the way he came it was a clear indication he was getting rid of it, what it was, and that he was trying to follow the instructions even if he made a small error.

All of this is my guesses.

[–] Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago

He's a poet and he was symbolically destroying his past

[–] d00ery@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

To show he had no weapons I'd guess ..

[–] kurodriel@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

Stuff Luke this makes me re-assess my "humanity is shit" stance, and it warms my heart more than I would've thought.