‘If we don’t kill them, they’ll kill us’: How drone units are reshaping the war in Ukraine

Kim Sengupta in Hostomel meets the Ukrainian drone operators putting themselves closer to the enemy to help gather intelligence

‘We kill Russians, I have no hesitation in doing this’ says Yevhen Pronin (Supplied)

The hasty arrival of Russian armour and artillery was an indication of how the tide of war is changing. This was not an army on the offensive, but in retreat from the sweeping counter-offensive in which Ukrainian forces have broken through enemy lines in the northeast of the country.

Yevhen Pronin watched the regrouping in the Donbas through the lens of his drones – the unmanned aircraft which played a vital part in the Ukrainian counter-attack and in the overall conflict, from fighting off the Kremlin’s assault on Kyiv in the first days of the invasion to the recent recapture of Izyum and other strategic locations.

Such has been the level of damage inflicted by Ukraine’s drone teams that the Russians have offered bounties on their heads. Yevhen and his team have been among those warned by intelligence that they have been targeted.