On the front line with Ukraine’s drone pilots as Putin ramps up deadly attacks

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1. Vasyl was just 21 when [Russia](https://inews.co.uk/topic/russia?srsltid=AfmBOopskfFT76rhCd-0IQahp0Kzd76aayGGO0wvTfRDbMTcV3TEQNV8&ico=in-line_link) invaded his homeland. A student in neighbouring Poland, his family hid his passport to prevent him from returning home to [Ukraine](https://inews.co.uk/topic/ukraine?srsltid=AfmBOooXjJXkxNHKJ1EIZ4xmtRwGR07tE7qeKxuRycjf4wYR4xI6KPlh&ico=in-line_link) to fight.

   “I spent two days looking for it,” he says, smiling, on a video call from a car in eastern Ukraine. “In the end I decided to go anyway.”

   Vasyl travelled back to Ukraine and talked his way back into the country with no documentation. He was allowed in under the emergency laws that were imposed after the invasion.

   “Everyone was leaving and I was going back,” he says. “I never saw myself as a soldier. I had a normal life, I was enjoying travelling and spending time with my friends. But I knew that I should be there.”

   Vasyl, now 24, is one of around a quarter of Ukraine’s soldiers who are not conscripts, but volunteers. Quickly trained and armed, they have been deployed across the front lines.

   But Vasyl and his team hold a unique — and vital — skill: [drone warfare.](https://inews.co.uk/news/uk-dominate-drone-warfare-putin-3731979?ico=in-line_link)

   Drones have come to define warfare in Ukraine. Used for gathering intelligence as well as launching deadly aerial attacks, the Ukrainian military says drones now account for [70 per cent of combat casualties](https://cepa.org/article/russia-assails-ukraines-drone-wall/) and the UN describes them as the [“deadliest threat to civilians in Ukraine”](https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1160016).

   It took Vasyl about a month to become fully trained to operate the drones. Now he spends four months at the front lines before being rotated out for rest and training in the west of Ukraine, where he teaches other new recruits to operate drones.

   “Drones are crucial at the front lines. They’re one of the most effective attack instruments and they’re causing a huge percentage of the injuries,” he says.

   “But they’re also used for [dropping food to the front lines,](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/drones-deliver-blood-transfusions-frontlines-nato-war-russia-3708361?srsltid=AfmBOopwtnsgFO89YEy3HthWjNVQeCoflJHx88hRsih7bj9N_QAbXg4b&ico=in-line_link) and ground drones can evacuate the wounded” to safety.

2. “… they are a prized target for the Russian military, whose reconnaissance is “very effective”.”.

   I am starting to think that those soldiers are just begging for attention. They say this and that is very effective about almost every single thing in Russian army, just pick one and there will be Ukrainian soldiers who did at times say those are very effective. Russian soldiers say the very same thing about Ukrainian soldiers, calling them very effective in almost all aspects too.

   However when reading obviously thruthful articles and comments on this sub I see that all Russian soldiers are sick criminal drunktards riding donkeys and having nothing better to do than unsuccessful meat assaults. Obviously I have no doubts in posts and articles on this sub, so Ukrainian soldiers must all be liars, just like the Russian ones.

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