The sun disappears into the hills of Donbass. The driver turns off the lights, accelerates and drives almost by heart along the potholed road to the position from which the team will launch its drones against the Russian troops. They work at night. The full moon illuminates the road, but also the vehicle. Small fireballs stitch the sky. On the Bakhmut front (in the east) there is a lot of activity, artillery thunder and drone bombs hum. “Anyway, if they hit us, we won't see it, we'll feel it,” Annya muses, adjusting her helmet. The soldier and her companion Yaroslav get out of the car almost in motion, cross the frozen mud, enter a cellar and distribute the material. You are at ground zero, where the battle is taking place meter by meter. Yaroslav takes out one of the drones and hangs a projectile on it. You could blow up a tank with one of these. “The Russians want to hunt us, but we see them. And we can reach them,” he says.
Moscow soldiers are less than a mile from the position from which the Ochi (Eyes) brigade operates its drones. The area is extremely dangerous and the car must not be left. Yuri, the group's driver, a burly military veteran of the Donbas war, will pick up his companions at first light. Yaroslav strokes his sharp, straw-colored beard and lifts his head with one of the devices from the cellar. Annya sips an energy drink and checks the coordinates on a laptop screen showing Russian positions. The night is long.
Yaroslav and Annja in their house before setting off on a mission on the Bakhmut front. Maria Sahuquillo
The battle is fierce and, given the Ukrainian army's lack of ammunition and dependence on Western aid, attack drones have become crucial in Russia's war against Ukraine. The fierce battle of Soviet tanks and artillery, sharp defenses and swamps built using techniques typical of the 20th century is increasingly also the battle of drones. Especially civilian, light and cheaper unmanned aircraft. Russia and Ukraine use them and “adapt them to their military needs,” explains Marina Miron, a researcher in the war studies department at King's College London. “The reality on the battlefield has created a need that the military industry could not meet quickly enough,” says the expert. And drones began to proliferate.
Previously, the Ochi team operated mainly with civilian reconnaissance drones during the day, such as the Chinese-made DJI Mavic quadcopters, which were equipped with good cameras to detect Russian positions that would later be attacked by artillery brigades. Flight. Location. Information. Shoot. But few want to work at night, explains Yaroslav (according to Ukrainian army rules, soldiers do not reveal their last names). And this applies even less to the villages around Bakhmut, the fortress city that fell into Russian hands last summer after the bloodiest urban battle of the Great War. The group reformed and began working in the dark, gradually also introducing drones suitable for attack: quadcopter aircraft modified to fire projectiles and grenades or to hit the target, like kamikazes. “It’s either them or us,” emphasizes Annya.
Annya, on the Bakhmut front. The Ochi Brigade now only operates at night.María Sahuquillo
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The team has now also mastered the so-called First Person View (FPV), drones with a first-person view, very handy, fast and relatively inexpensive, to which they attach projectiles with straps and cable ties that they produce themselves using a 3D printer. Most brigades like yours finance spare parts and materials from their own pockets or through donations. In the damp basement lit by a light bulb, Jaroslaw puts on the goggles he uses to operate the FPV drone and climbs into the head of the already loaded aircraft. It's not a video game. The war started by Russia, now in its third year, has claimed tens of thousands of lives, destroyed thousands of homes, created millions of refugees and blown up the global security architecture.
Military drones have played a key role in wars for years. Ukraine had Leleka-100 drones and used the Turkish-made Bayraktar drone, which also gave Azerbaijan a naval edge in the 2020 war against the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Bayraktar even had songs in Ukrainian. Between April and May 2022, the Kyiv army began using smaller commercial drones for surveillance and reconnaissance, explains Marina Miron. He later adapted them to attack Russian equipment and personnel. The Kremlin caught up “very quickly” and introduced Iranian-made shaheeds, notes the King's College researcher. Now both use drones to solve tasks on the battlefield, correct artillery fire and overwhelm air defense systems. Russia also uses them as swarms combined with missiles.
Annya and Yaroslav from the Ochi Brigade. Initially the group operated reconnaissance drones, but gradually they also introduced bomb drones.María Sahuquillo
There are civilian devices that can be converted for reconnaissance or attack for between 2,000 euros (the most tactical ones) and 400 euros. Costs are also a variable in Russia. “An Iranian Shahed-136 drone costs about $20,000, while even a Kalibr missile costs $950,000. Now it doesn’t cause the same damage,” Miron clarifies.
Special teaching
For military analyst Mijailo Samus, this will “definitely” be the year of war drones. The Ukrainian army now has an attack company of these aircraft in almost every brigade, a special doctrine is being created for this type of technology and it will ultimately be a specific branch, for example, the Marine Corps or the Airborne Forces, says the renowned expert. But while Ukraine has proven to be superior in dealing with naval drones, such as those used in attacks on the Black Sea Fleet or the Kerch Bridge (Crimea), Russia has developed a number of “countermeasures” for protection, Miron explains equipment and has deployed several electromagnetic warfare systems, such as the Shipovnik Aero, which it also uses to shoot down Ukrainian drones.
Kiev is currently working on a new project to train 2,600 FPV drone pilots. The next step will be the integration of artificial intelligence, explains analyst Samus, to make it easier to find tanks and armored vehicles of enemy troops on the battlefield. “This would allow an operator to use several drones at the same time,” says the expert.
Meanwhile, the Ochi Brigade is looking for a third operator. Now their mechanics are always the same: they sleep during the day, they make more materials for the planes, they drive to position at full speed under the artillery rain that lights up the sunset, and they control their drones from the basement. Night for night. Two years ago Annya had a different life. The soldier, a 34-year-old physiotherapist, lived with her boyfriend in Kiev. They had plans. Dreams. He was born and raised in the Donetsk region and lived through the Donbas War. As Russia gathered troops along Ukraine's borders, it joined the territorial defense brigades and began training.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his attacks on Ukraine by land, sea and air on February 24, 2022, Annya and her boyfriend came forward. The Russians killed him last winter. In the spring she changed brigades. Now he operates bombing drones in one of the toughest areas of the battle as rockets and mortar shells thunder. “I think this is where I can make a contribution and make a difference for now,” he says. Next to him, between cables, Jaroslaw, 35 years old and father of three children, nods. Before the full-scale invasion, he ran a company in Kiev. Now he has been in the Donbas swamp for almost two years. It is becoming increasingly difficult for both of them to remain active in civilian life.
Outside the cellar, in the gray villages on the Bakhmut front, there is almost no one left. Only the bombs can be heard in Khasiv Yar, a city that was home to about 12,500 people before the invasion and which the Russian siege turned into the new Bakhmut. In July, a Kremlin attack destroyed the Palace of Culture, which served as a transit point for humanitarian aid. The building is now a mass of rubble. On one of the facades you can see graffiti showing Valeri Zaluzhni, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, drawing the “V” for “victory”. Russia's war against Ukraine has become entrenched in the region. Moscow soldiers have taken over some of the positions that Ukrainian troops recaptured in the spring.
The invaded country is preparing for a long war while fearing that Western support is waning and the money that keeps the country afloat – and the weapons that enable it to resist – will no longer arrive. Kiev is trying to increase the production of weapons and drones, Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin tells EL PAÍS. According to its calculations, this year it will be able to produce a million FPV drones, more than 10,000 medium-range bombing drones (between 600 and 800 kilometers) and 1,000 long-range kamikaze drones (more than a thousand kilometers). “Ground robotic systems are also crucial. They can save lives by replacing soldiers on the battlefield. Even tasks such as mine clearance, medical evacuation and logistics, which are very dangerous, can and should be taken over by robots,” says the minister. Kamyshin also assures that after the war, Ukraine will become a major global player in this type of technology. “Drones are a game-changer in this war,” he adds.
Of course, they changed everything for the Ochi Brigade. From the basement, where a small generator hums, they talk about better times, when they couldn't imagine firing drone bombs at the Kremlin troops in a dark swamp or in the middle of the snow. “Russia wants to wipe out our nation, end our democracy. “This is a war and each of us is doing what we can,” says Annya. “I don't know if Europe is ready, but if Putin moves forward, he will not stay in Ukraine. And there will be a lot of people like us, a lot of basements like this,” agrees Jaroslav.
Yuri and Jarloslaw prepare the vehicle for use on the Bakhmut front.María Sahuquillo
Yaroslav from the Ochi drone brigade next to the 3D printer they use to produce materials, just before he leaves for a mission on the Bakhmut front. Maria Sahuquillo
Annya from the Ochi Drone Brigade with her cat Haley before leaving for a mission on the Bakhmut front. Maria Sahuquillo
Annya from the Ochi group, which fights with drones, in Chasiv Yar.María Sahuquillo
The Ochi group operates in the so-called ground zero, where Russian troops are being fought meter by meter. They launch their drones from a basement in front of Bajmut.María SahuquilloAnnya and Yaroslav from the Ochi Brigade. Initially the group operated reconnaissance drones, but gradually they also introduced bombing drones, María Sahuquillo
Annya from the Ochi drone group prepares the logistics for the use of the aircraft against the Russian troops on the Bakhmut front.María Sahuquillo
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