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Марія Бровінська
5 August 2026, 12:02
2026-08-05
A group of deputies, including Arakhamia, proposes to allow hunting with drones and thermal imagers and at the same time ban UAVs. Animal rights activists sound the alarm
The Verkhovna Rada has registered draft law No. 15431 «On Hunting, Hunting and Sustainable Use of Game Animals», which, among other things, provides for the possibility of using drones, thermal imagers and sound reproducing devices during hunting. The animal protection organization UAnimals called on the people’s deputies not to support the document.
The Verkhovna Rada has registered draft law No. 15431 «On Hunting, Hunting and Sustainable Use of Game Animals», which, among other things, provides for the possibility of using drones, thermal imagers and sound reproducing devices during hunting. The animal protection organization UAnimals called on the people’s deputies not to support the document.
The list of authors of the document is impressive in its scope.
The deputies propose to include the following types of weapons in the list of hunting weapons, in addition to firearms and pneumatic weapons: cartridges, knives, bows, crossbows, arrows, hunting spears, drones, transport andfloating vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, electrical equipment, opticaldevices, devices for visualizing the temperature field and remote temperature measurement (thermal imagers), night vision devices, sound reproducing devices, etc.
And then the text itself names them as those that should be banned. In particular, in Article 30 — tools prohibited during hunting and trapping — there are airplanes and helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles.
According to UAnimals representatives, the billdefineshunting as «active recreation,» and the skins, horns, skulls, and tusks of captured animals as hunting trophies.
The organization was most concerned by the provisions that, in its assessment, allow:
use drones, thermal imagers and sound reproducing devices during hunting;
to hunt during the so-called quiet season, when animals give birth and raise offspring;
develop hunting tourism, particularly in isolated areas.
UAnimals emphasizes that the use of modern technologies, in particular drones, is significantly changing the nature of hunting, as it makes it possible to detect and pursue animals much more effectively.
In addition, the bill proposes to classify wolves, foxes, jackals, raccoon dogs, as well as domestic animals that are in hunting grounds without supervision, as «unwanted animals for hunting.»
Also, according to animal rights activists, the document potentially expands the circle of legal entities that can receive hunting grounds for use. «Hunting is not „active recreation“, but the most ordinary killing for entertainment and profit. UAnimals calls on people’s deputies to maintain humanity and not vote for bill No. 15431,» the organization said.
Bill No. 15431 is currently only registered in the Verkhovna Rada and has not yet been adopted by the parliament. If it is supported by the deputies, the use of drones and thermal imaging equipment during hunting will be regulated in accordance with its provisions.
