"Russian Armed Forces servicemen explained how they used drones to evacuate civilians from Kharkov's Kupyansk - after the city came under their control. Footage released on Thursday shows the aftermath of fighting with destroyed houses and broken windows, as well as civilians signalling their presence by waving a white piece of cloth, then communicating with UAV operators by leaving messages on a piece of paper. "During aerial reconnaissance, we spotted two civilians leaving the north-western outskirts of Kupyansk. The decision was made to evacuate them. My subordinate operators tried everything they could to make them understand that they needed to follow the drone," said a Russian serviceman. One evacuated Kupyansk resident said that it was possible to live normally in the city until spring, but in recent months, UAV attacks had intensified and it had become unsafe to leave the house even to fetch water from the nearest well. "Ukraine has increased self-shelling. So they shelled their own positions, their own territory, and constantly bombarded the city. For the most part, they targeted civilians," another alleged. Kiev has previously denied doing so. The family alsoi explained how they had signalled to the Russian soldiers for help. "We waved white bandages to attract attention. When we waved again, the drone stopped, hovered above us, and my son began to write in his notebook with a pen: We are civilians. Please help and drop instructions on where to go and some water," the woman said. "When we had walked some distance, another drone flew in. It dropped us a note telling us to follow it closely and watch our step, because there were a lot of mines on the trails. After that, we followed the drone for another kilometre and a half, and it dropped us a radio," the man added. The woman thanked the servicemen from the 27th Motorised Rifle Brigade for their help, thanks to which her family could survive. "They guided us, tried to control us all the time via radio, and explained where to turn so that we wouldn't get lost, especially since it was already getting dark. <...> At about six o'clock, they brought us to the main location, and there we went straight to the person who was waiting for us," she said. Russia reported taking the city last month. Volodymyr Zelensky later released a video of himself at the city limits, which triggered a row about exactly where he was - while Vladimir Putin asked why he had not gone inside if it really was under the control of Ukrainian forces. "