![]() ![]() ![]() The environment in Bakhmut, where sight lines are restricted by the remaining buildings, is also often more difficult, as was the winter weather, but a frontline drone squad may only cover a few hundred metres, whereas before their effective range was 10 or 20 times more. But in practice they are bought in large numbers by donors from Europe and the US – the Star Wars actor Mark Hamill fronts one fundraising campaign – and shipped across the border, because they have proved the most effective for local-level reconnaissance and can be easily modified to carry grenades to bomb from above.īut the drone operators report the DJI craft are gradually becoming less effective, as Russian electronic warfare techniques diminish their range. In theory, DJI drones were banned in Ukraine and Russia by the company nearly a year ago, with DJI saying it “abhors any use of our drones to cause harm”. Images of the detail of the devastation of Bakhmut illustrate what can be seen. ![]() They are used as propaganda vehicles by both sides, and in Ukraine it is common for brigades or battalions to have a videographer to help produce such content. Hundreds of war videos filmed from above demonstrate the military capability of drones. ![]() They also help Ukrainian gunners correct their aim, and occasionally use armed drones if required. “You only have a couple of minutes to catch and destroy them,” Yaroslav said. But in the war, there are no emotions, you just totally do what you need to do,” said Yaroslav, although both admitted the three-week break they have had from the frontline had not been long enough.ĭrone operators such as Maksym and Yaroslav, embedded within frontline battalions, are asked to conduct reconnaissance, monitoring enemy attacks, or search for higher-value targets such as artillery pieces, although in Bakhmut the Russians only briefly fire these about 3 miles (5km) behind enemy lines. “When you are watching movies, you think you must feel something when you are killing people. It is terrifying and dehumanising, watching the violence from overhead and dropping bombs down below. Maksym described watching a Russian attack that lasted “seven hours, with wave after wave of attackers” coming at Ukrainian positions in small groups “from the morning until about 3pm”, each being sought out from above to give Ukrainian soldiers a chance to stop them. To say the work in Bakhmut, scene of the heaviest fighting in the war, is intense is an understatement. Their day in Bakhmut would typically start before dawn, where working in a group of two or three, the men would have brought at least a pair of drones to their forward position, most likely a simple DJI Mavic 3 quadcopter (which costs £1,399 in the UK) or perhaps a more advanced DJI Matrice 30T (£12,098) – and a pile of 20 to 30 batteries, because “in winter, the battery life is about half an hour”, said Maksym. Drone operators Maksym (left) and Yaroslav. ![]()
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