A court in the Volgograd region has fined a local pensioner 40,000 rubles (about $450) and ordered the confiscation of his single-barreled hunting shotgun after he tried to shoot down a drone flying over his house. The July ruling was uncovered by the independent outlet Verstka.
The man, identified in court documents as Mukhin, was found guilty under Part 2 of Article 20.13 of the Russian Administrative Code (firing a weapon in an unauthorized place). According to the court records, he went out into his yard at night and began shooting at drones passing over his home. He then called the emergency number 112, reported the incident, waited for police, showed them where he believed the drone had fallen, and voluntarily handed over his gun. Whether he hit the target is unknown.
In his appeal, Mukhin argued that he fired "under conditions of justified fear for public safety and the lives of citizens, having assessed the unidentified drones as potential sabotage objects." He asked for the case to be dropped, citing extreme necessity and the absence of harm from his actions.
The Elansky District Court upheld the ruling of the magistrate, finding no evidence that the man's actions were forced or that he faced a danger that could not be eliminated by other means. The court said the pensioner committed a gross violation that could have caused harm to the life and health of citizens.