In Poltava region, rescuers were poisoned after contact with a 'shahed'.

On April 15, 2025, employees of the State Emergency Service were hospitalized due to chemical poisoning. They were poisoned while inspecting the site of the fall of a Russian UAV of the Shahed type. This was reported on the community’s website.

According to the information, on April 15, the duty shift commander of the State Emergency Service received a report of the chemical poisoning of two people.

Two employees were checking the crash sites of the Russian UAV of the Shahed type and touched its debris. They discovered the use of an unknown chemical substance that covered the surface of the drone.

According to the report, the enemy uses poisonous Shahed-type UAVs to attack Ukraine. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation.

Earlier information from the international intelligence community InformNapalm confirmed that Russian occupiers are using chemical toxic substances on Shahed-136 and 'Geran-2' UAVs. This is done to inflict additional damage on the Ukrainian army and residents during attacks. Special attention is paid to those who collect the debris of downed drones.

Although there is no confirmation that the bodies of Russian drones are treated with toxic substances.

Increase in the number of Russian drones over Ukraine

In 2025, the number of Russian drones launched over Ukraine increased eightfold compared to the previous year. Since the beginning of 2025, 11.4 thousand drones have been launched, while for the same period in 2024, there were 1.4 thousand drones.

Recently, fiber-optic drones have appeared at the front, which are a complex enemy to fight against. Politician, public activist, and now aerial reconnaissance expert Igor Lutsenko, in a conversation with 'Glavkom', notes that finding a solution against this tool must happen at the state level, particularly at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.