Russian drone footage circulating online yesterday shows two Ukrainian airmen watching their latest target - a drone filming them - from the open cockpit of their 1970s Yakovlev Yak-52 trainer. The Yak-52 and the Russian drone are only a few meters away.

Yakovlev's passenger in the back seat appears to be pointing a drone-killing shotgun at the drone. Perhaps it was the same shotgun that made him famous. Earlier this month, a Russian blogger complained about Yak-52 crews "shooting at the UAVs as if they were being shot at." Others compared the crash to a battle from World War I, Forbes writes.

In mid-April, videos circulated online of a Yak-52 allegedly belonging to a Ukrainian volunteer flying club but apparently fighting on behalf of the Ukrainian Air Force, including a Russian Orlan drone over the Kherson region in south of Ukraine. The drone is suspected to have crashed.

Six weeks later, in early June, a similar video was recorded by the Russians. It shows a Yak-52 in combat with a Russian ZALA drone. In that video, the shooter can be seen in the back seat reaching for something, possibly his gun. Photos that appeared on social media on Tuesday reveal markings on the Yakovlev's propeller-driven side - at least six Orlan and two ZALA drones.

When the first videos of the Yak-52's combat against the drone appeared on social media, some observers speculated that the crew of the one-ton trainer shot down the drones with ground cannons or rocket shells. But as Italian aviation expert David Cenciotti pointed out, very few Yak-52s were modified to carry underguns. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the Ukrainians fired shotguns from the back seat of the plane.

As Ukraine's air force struggles to preserve its most expensive surface-to-air missiles for Russia's most dangerous targets, ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as manned fighter-bombers that drop powerful glide bombs, the boy with the shotgun flies in a slow propeller airplane. It's a cheap way to shoot down Russian drones far from the front line.

It is not easy for Ukrainians. Both the Yak-52 pilot and the hunter in the back seat must be skilled and patient to shoot down the small drone.

It reminds of the battles of the First World War. After one of the first plane-to-plane engagements, Royal Flying Corps observer Archibald James admitted to firing on the German pilot at long range.

“I aimed the service rifle at 500 yards and fired six shots and was miserable that I apparently missed it. At the time, we had no idea how far you had to shoot to have any effect," he wrote.