The key facts

  • A courier on an electric vehicle overtook a delivery robot and then deliberately rammed into it
  • The consequences and circumstances of the incident are still being investigated
  • In recent weeks, this is already the third incident involving delivery robots in Russia

The words 'This is our territory' were caught on video

In the Telegram channel 'Multinational' a video appeared showing a courier on an electric vehicle racing a delivery robot. 'This is our territory. Where are you going?' the courier said on the recording. The footage shows him overtaking the delivery robot, then stopping, waiting for the robot to overtake him, and then accelerating and ramming into it.

What is known and what remains unknown

According to Gazeta.Ru, the consequences of the incident are currently unknown, and the circumstances are being investigated. The publication does not specify the location of the recording, the date, or which company owns the robot, so it is not yet possible to say whether the device was damaged or whether the operating company responded to the incident.

A series of incidents involving delivery robots

This is not the first report in recent weeks of a conflict between delivery robots and the road environment. Earlier, according to Gazeta.Ru, in Moscow a delivery robot drove onto the roadway and was unable to get over a speed bump: a man and the driver of a white Lada Largus van came to its aid, together lifting the robot and carrying it onto the sidewalk, clearing the road. It was not reported whether the robot completed its delivery. In addition, earlier a delivery robot rammed a GAZelle van near Saint Petersburg. Unlike the speed bump case, where passers-by helped the machine, the new incident shows the opposite situation — a deliberate collision by a human, but there has been no official assessment of what happened yet.