This grainy drone video shows what war looks like today.
Piloting a drone may seem like a video game, but these soldiers are in real danger.
We joined a Ukrainian drone team on the front lines to understand this work and how cheap drones have changed combat as we know it.
Drone operators wage their war from the air, but they rarely see the sky.
The Ukrainians in this small unit spend most of their time indoors, in a partially ruined building in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. Units like theirs are spread across the entire front on both sides, meaning soldiers can barely advance without being spotted.
The commander, pilot, navigator and explosives technician of this unit were all born in or near Kherson. Now they are defending him.
THE PREPARATION
Between strikes, the technician prepares the explosives.
And soldiers assemble and test the drones, so they are ready to respond to orders.
Cheap drones used in Ukraine are redefining combat as we know it. The soldiers can barely advance without being targeted.
This drone team, belonging to the 34th Marine Brigade, works in two rooms. One is cluttered with wires, antennas, zip ties, tape and soldering irons for modifying drones. The other has the explosives. A wood stove ensures comfort in cold weather.
They prepare different explosives for different targets: pellet-filled charges to use against soldiers and mixtures of TNT and mining explosives for bunkers.
As soldiers prepare their munitions, a surveillance drone operated by a separate unit searches for targets nearby, across the Dnipro River in Russian-held territory.
While waiting for orders, the soldiers smoke and chat to pass the time.
Sergeant Serhiy, 46, previously fought in the infantry but was injured when his vehicle hit a mine. After that, he taught himself how to fly drones. He and the other soldiers asked to be identified only by their first names, in accordance with military protocol.
Part of his job is to monitor enemy drones. The team uses a device that intercepts video signals broadcast by Russian drones arriving from across the river. If Ukrainians see their own position on the screen, they know they are in grave danger.
The detector comes alive. “It’s flying near us,” Sergeant Serhiy explains of a Russian drone.
But then the signal goes out – Ukrainian jammers have blocked it – and an explosion is heard some distance away as the drone crashes.
They are safe.
THE CALL
The command center orders the team to act via a secure phone call. A Ukrainian surveillance drone has spotted what looks like a Russian bunker.
The browser receives a description of the target.
The team is moving quickly. The explosives technician attaches a plastic bottle containing explosives to the drone, ideal for destroying a deep bunker.
The battery and other parts are then installed. The drone is ready to go.
Drones are built from commercial models. The use of cheap materials arose out of necessity early in the war, when Ukraine was short of artillery shells.
The Ukrainian army is the first major force in the world to create a separate branch for unmanned systems. But unmanned is a bit of an overuse term. Tens of thousands of soldiers serve in drone units, even as Ukraine's military is severely understaffed.
The Russian bunker is located at a location on the front where Russian and Ukrainian soldiers are only a few hundred meters apart.
Tension rises in the room as the drone is tested. Its propellers whir briefly, confirming that it is ready to fly. It seems barely navigable, but it is deadly.
Private Oleksandr ties a rope between a safety mechanism on the drone and the wooden crate from which it will take off. When it flies away, the rope will disengage the mechanism and the device will be cocked.
Sergeant Serhiy and Corporal Oleh, the navigator, sit on camping chairs in front of three large computer screens.
Next comes the riskiest part of the operation. The drone must be taken outside.
Private Oleksandr must leave the hiding place for just a few seconds to prepare for the drone launch.
The only defense against being spotted by a Russian surveillance drone is speed.
Only about 10 minutes passed from order to launch.
After takeoff, the drone cannot be recovered. If the target is not found, Sergeant Serhiy will crush it in open space.
THE THEFT
Due to GPS jamming, the drone team must rely on landmarks such as trees and river bends to navigate.
Although the machine used for this mission is called a first-person view drone, piloting it is a two-person job.
The pilot uses a remote control console while watching a video feed from the drone's camera. The navigator watches videos from the FPV drone and a surveillance drone while receiving instructions from the command center.
Some pilots use virtual reality glasses, which provide a more immersive view. But because they were using desktop screens, Corporal Oleh could guide Sergeant Serhiy by pointing out geographic features on the screens.
The target bunker is a few kilometers away, across the wetlands of the Dnipro River.
Radio jamming interferes with the signal, but the device maintains contact. A few minutes after takeoff, Sergeant Serhiy carefully steers the drone into a trench.
The strike is a success. The surveillance drone picks up the explosion.
THE AFTER
There are no cheers after a strike.
Some pilots are shaken by what they see. They witness the final moments of soldiers running for their lives or hiding in the bushes.
Sergeant Serhiy says he is not bothered. “They attacked my house,” he said of the Russians.
Russian and Ukrainian drone teams sometimes taunt or insult each other by adding text to unencrypted images transmitted by their drones. Each party knows that the other can see the messages.
“It’s our only way to communicate,” explains Sergeant Serhiy.
There are typically around 10 failed drone strikes for every successful strike. Sometimes drones lose signal due to radio jamming. Sometimes they are shot by Russian soldiers.
We saw the unit take on four targets that day. All four were successful. It was a day of precision and efficiency.
