It’s become an almost daily routine for Ukraine’s elite drone units working along the eastern front: Catching on camera groups of ill-prepared Russian ground troops and vehicles venturing forward.
Once they’re sighted, it’s usually a matter of minutes or seconds until the Ukrainian drones blow them up, say the technicians operating the joysticks.
“They are hunting us; we are hunting them,” said Ukrainian drone unit soldier “Maks,” speaking to RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service. “Drone operators are a priority target as they are the most effective combat units that inflict the most losses.”
Estimates by Ukrainian commanders suggest that up to 70 percent of Russia’s current deaths and casualties are due to drone attacks.
The drone operators in Ukraine’s 30th Prince Kostyantyn Ostrozkiy Mechanized Brigade, working in the Donetsk region, say they place a high priority on targeting their Russian counterparts.
They also play a key role in supporting the Ukrainian infantry and in fending off assaults by Russian troops.
Facing a far larger army than their own in this war, Ukrainians developed drone attack tactics early on that have proven highly effective, from working out how to drop a grenade with pinpoint precision to evading enemy digital jamming signals.
And the advent of first person-view technology, which allows operators to see what the drone sees live as it attacks, has signaled a remarkable leap forward in the impact of relatively cheap, expendable drones as an essential element of warfare.
And, while Russian engineers have actively worked to keep up the pace in a drone arms race, with both sides constantly improving, it appears that invading ground troops are still highly vulnerable.
“Most of the time, they come without any EW [electronic warfare] defenses,” said Ukrainian drone unit soldier “Ryba.”
“There was an assault group coming in recently,” he said. “One soldier was carrying a backpack with EW equipment and the other had a portable generator. But they didn’t have time to start it up and they'll stay in that spot forever.”
It’s also become evident from witnessing Ukrainian air attacks that Russians do not expend much effort to recover their soldiers once they’re hit, said “Maks.”
“When they retreat, they leave behind soldiers who are even slightly injured,” he explained. “Their fear of drones outweighs the fear of snipers.”
Almost daily Russian incursions around the ruined city of Pokrovsk have been keeping Ukrainian drone operators particularly busy recently.
And, although Ukrainian frontline troops of all kinds have said they must deal with increasing exhaustion and stress, drone unit soldier Mykhaylo Trach says drones have proved themselves vital to keeping the Russians at bay.
“The enemy is constantly trying to probe weak spots in our defenses and seize more territory,” he said. “But they're failing because of our efforts.”
