This is the terrifying moment brave aid workers were targeted by sick Russian drone pilots who later shared a video of the outrageous attack. An armoured truck from non-profit aid organisation Plain Compassion Crisis Response (PCCR) was evacuating civilians and delivering aid in the Ukrainian held part of Donetsk Oblast last month. 

But as this nightmare video shows, the movement of the van had been clocked by Vladimir Putin’s ruthless drone pilots who have become infamous for attacking civilians on the front line. A point-of-view video shared on Russian social media shows the moment the drone flew towards the aid van to deliver its deadly payload.

And footage captured inside the vehicle by the PCCR shows the moment of explosive impact, and the miracle that those inside escaped relatively unharmed.

PPCR Ukraine Field Director Ron Hershberger said the attack happened on November 20 near the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, close to the front line. He told Express.co.uk: “Drone strikes appear to be getting more frequent. Civilians are being targeted, I saw an older guy aged up to 80 being specifically targeted. There was nothing else around for the drone to be targeting, he turned around and it exploded.

“The guy from our team who was on the vehicle does remember a lot of what happened, he doesn’t remember seeing the drone. After they got hit he went back to the vehicle, which was on fire.

“Our team is still going, right now we are down a vehicle, but we should be getting another armoured one from the Samaritan’s Purse aid organisation. We will have to outfit it with things like drone jammers.”

Mr Hershberger explained PCCR did have another vehicle which was partially armoured, but for entering “hot zones” they were working with another charity in the meantime to help civilians who need aid on the front line.

Speaking about the injuries suffered by those inside the aid truck, Mr Hershberger added: “Our guy that got hit is doing okay, he is recovering.

“He had some glass stuck in him that they had to get out and also a concussion so he is trying to take it easy.”

Discussing the Russian video of the attack, Mr Hershberger said it was useful from the point of view of looking at how the Kremlin forces were choosing targets.

He continued: “Our guys never saw the drone at all, I was actually hoping they would put the video out so I could see from their perspective. We could see where the drone came from and that they could see our signs on our van, which shows it’s not a military vehicle.

“For these drone pilots it must almost feel like a video game, you don’t see the aftermath of what you have done.”

PCCR said there had been seen a sharp increase in evacuation requests in Ukraine and a massive shortage of good places for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) to relocate to.

The orgnanisation has a team on the ground in Dnipro to run evacuation operations and a large facility that has been turned into a temporary shelter for the IDPs to stay until more permanent solutions are found.

To help PCCR with their amazing work, visit their donation page here.