DISTRICT OF BAHMUT I am on a drone patrol trip on the front somewhere between Bahmut and Avdijivka in the Donbas of Eastern Ukraine.
The mission of the patrol is to find enemies and destroy them.
We come to the stations at five in the morning. A view of a huge field opens up from a small forest.
In Ukraine, fields are usually surrounded by a small forest. The woods are occupied by soldiers from the entire length of the huge front.
There are mortars, machine guns and snipers hidden in the trees. There are thousands of kilometers of trenches.
There are also thousands of drone operators hidden in the trees. Drones are used to scout and destroy enemies. They are at the heart of war.
Operating drones is dangerous. Like all work at the front. The firing is continuous.
There is often a whistle that stops the action for a moment. It’ll pass. Once a Russian helicopter fires rockets. They also hit farther, but you can understand the power of the projectiles.
On a few occasions, you can clearly hear the fighting in Bahmut’s direction with machine guns and assault rifles. The other party performs an attack. Drone teams are also important targets.
You must not reveal your location. Each time, the drone is flown to the base by circling from a distance so that the location is not revealed.
The superior has fought for nine years, the apprentice for three months
This drone unit consists of two soldiers who only identify themselves as combatants. Batman is a supervisor and Phoenix is an apprentice.
Batman joined the defense forces already in 2014, when Russia started a war against Ukraine right here in the eastern parts of the country in Donbas.
Feniks has only been at war for three months. Before that, he received military training in Great Britain.
– The training was good, but we don’t have all the first aid equipment that we learned to use there, Feeniks says in Ukrainian.
He doesn’t speak English. Interpreters were used in the training.
When we arrive at the forest, Batman tells Phoenix to set up a cell phone-like antenna on the edge of the field. The antenna is used because GPS control works poorly due to Russian electronic interference.
The antenna is connected with a cable to the tablet, from which you can monitor the video image sent by the drone. The drone team has two commercial DJI Mavic 3 drones and three controllers.
These are devices available to everyone. For example, uses them in filming.
Non-commercial drones developed for military use are increasingly being used on the front lines because they are harder to disrupt and fly longer. There is also more firepower.
The work of the drone team is largely about waiting
Short videos of soldiers eliminating enemies with grenades dropped from drones are appearing on social media.
The reality is not as effortless. Work shifts are twelve hours long and require patience. There are no guarantees of success.
After half an hour of work, we are allowed to take to the air for the first time.
Batman steers the drone over a mile away from the field. There is an enemy front line on the other side of a small river.
Batman closely follows the image from the tablet. Visibility is too poor because of the fog. Gotta go back.
After waiting a couple of hours, the fog has dissipated sufficiently.
Now a sharp picture of the terrain is drawn on the tablet screen. You can clearly see the trenches from the air.
The photo also shows Russian camouflage nets, but no soldiers.
– Here they have dug trenches at night. Now they are in hiding. Soon we will have better night furniture and be able to send more gifts [kranaatteja] also at night, Batman says.
The fourth flight of the day finally pays off. Movement can be seen by one potero.
A Russian soldier looks out of a deep trench with a periscope. He moves restlessly and hides under the camouflage net.
– It’s hard to say if he noticed the drone, Batman says.
The drone is brought back and equipped with a grenade.
The grenade remains a cobbler
Already during the war in Eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainians started developing grenades for commercial drones. They were used to attack the forces led by Russia.
Grenades were developed on a volunteer basis in small companies. The Ukrainians figured out how to control the trajectory of the grenades with different tails.
They are printed with 3D printers.
A shell is placed in the grenades, which is destroyed into fragments when the grenade explodes.
– The shrapnel wounds soldiers in a larger area, says Batman.
Some of the drones explode a little above the ground at head height. Shrapnel kills soldiers hidden in trees where it’s hard to see.
The most important thing is still the inquiry. When the drone finds an important target, it is usually destroyed with artillery or mortars. Grenades are used for small targets.
Batman flies the drone to the Russian soldier’s potter and drops the grenade. On the screen you can see how it flies towards the ground.
– It didn’t explode, Batman exclaims when the grenade hits the ground.
The grenade didn’t work for some reason. Have to go back and try again.
But there are other problems. After the fog has cleared, the wind has turned into a gust.
In addition, Russian electronic interference makes flying difficult.
Sometimes they manage to shoot down even small drones, mostly with automatic weapons.
– The other day, the Russians shot down one drone, but it was loaded with a grenade. It crashed into them and exploded.
When Batman tries to drop the next grenade, the aim misses. It is either due to wind or electronic interference.
Batman does not control the drone. The grenade drops far from its target.
We have to go back again.
On the next attempt, the drone will not get close to the target. The grenade must be dropped in the middle of the field before the airplane returns. Otherwise, the grenade could explode when the drone lands on the base.
After a couple of hours of trying, the Russian soldier equipped with a periscope survives. He hardly realizes how lucky he was.
War is random.
Russia is a “cult of death”
This is what war is. Grown people use their time and creativity to kill.
But there is a crucial difference between Ukraine and Russia.
Russia brought war and genocide to Ukraine. The Ukrainians didn’t want that.
Batman and Phoenix would rather be at home in their own everyday life.
Both are from Odessa.
In the car on the way to the stations, they read on the phone about the Russian missile attack on their hometown.
– Acquaintances write that the windows have come in in my apartment. I live in an area where Russia attacked, says Feeniks.
All the other soldiers say the same. They don’t want wars, but there are no alternatives.
If they don’t defend themselves, Ukraine will be destroyed under Russia.
In Ukraine, many call Russia a “cult of death”.
According to them, war is idealized in Russia. This is not a war of aggression by one president, but the effort of an entire society.
Also in the light of research the majority of Russians supports the regime’s war of aggression or they are indifferent.
The phenomenon is not new. For example, Russia’s war in Syria has never been widely opposed in Russia.
A working day without results
Since the grenade failed to drop, Batman next flies the drone in another direction to scout.
There is a completely destroyed village. There are still no Russians to be seen.
Suddenly the drone starts behaving recklessly and Batman barely manages to bring it back.
The team tries to fly a couple more times, but the drones don’t obey properly.
– Either there is a fault with the drones or it is harassment. Gotta get back to base, he says and calls headquarters.
After seven hours of work, the shift is cut short. The driver is looking for a team.
Batman and Phoenix return to the detached house, where the residents have fled the war of Russian aggression. It is the base of the unit.
At the front, everyone is tired, a little or a lot. The work still continues day after day. There are no alternatives.
It’s almost time for the next shift.