Imagine getting a speeding ticket in the mail for speeding on a Russian street in Kursk while flying a Ukrainian combat drone. That's the reality some Russians near the front line are facing after Ukraine unexpectedly seized Russian territory in Kursk Oblast. And they're complaining about it on Telegram.
Rob Lee, a well-known analyst of the war between Ukraine and Russia, comments on X that “in Kursk, traffic cameras are still in operation and people are getting speeding tickets when they try to overtake FPVs. [first-person-view attack drones]. Some have covered their license plates but were forced to remove them by the traffic police.”
Russian media Mash offers further details from a local perspective:
Volunteers and military personnel who arrived in the Kursk region are asking the traffic police not to fine them for speeding while fleeing from the drones of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Several people who are near the combat zone told Mash about it. Cameras are still recording violations in the border area, and when people try to escape the drones, they receive good luck letters [tickets]One of the well-known military activists was fined $9,000. [rubles, apparently—about US$100] in just one day. He was speeding on a highway that is attacked almost hourly by hostile FPV drones. Some cover their license plates, but the traffic police stop them and demand that they remove the stickers.
Mash claims that the traffic police are understanding and, given the drone situation, “speeding violations can be considered as committed in a state of extreme distress.” However, anyone who receives a speeding ticket on these grounds will have to challenge it in court.
mash
The attack drones in question here are also being used well beyond the current front lines. For example, Russian military bloggers have been claiming for over a week that Ukrainian drones are attacking supply vehicles on the key E38 highway through Kursk, and have published photos of burning vehicles along the route. (The E38 lies well north of known Ukrainian positions.)
So it's understandable that Russians are a bit in a hurry on such roads. But the traffic cameras don't care – and the traffic police who run the cameras don't seem to care either.
The Estonian X-account “WarTranslated” provides English translations of Russian Telegram posts about the Ukraine war, and the topic of traffic cameras has come up several times. One local Russian commentator says: “Fines for violations of traffic rules continue to be collected in the front-line areas… For example, if drivers exceed the speed limit to escape the drone or drive quickly through a dangerous spot, the state regularly collects fines for this.”
Another Russian complains: “The fact is that surveillance cameras for monitoring speeding continue to operate in the Kursk region. It often happens that fighters are punished for fleeing from enemy FPV drones. Even pasting over license plates on cars does not help. For example, a man from the Kurchatov city people's militia was sentenced to 15 days in prison for pasting over a license plate.”
Fortunately, there is a simple way to end the drone threat in Kursk.