in Ukraine, the drone war gives some hope to soldiers on the front lines

Killer, intelligence, mine clearance drones… Never have they been used so much in a conflict like the war in Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky announced Tuesday evening that he wanted to produce a million in 2024. It was in Donbass, on the eastern front of Ukraine, that the drone war began.

Trenches, shells, missiles. And drones… The night is dark on the Donbass front, in eastern Ukraine. The air trembles to the rhythm of artillery fire. Two Ukrainian soldiers are in a half-buried pillbox. Outside, a third man takes off a small drone equipped with night vision sensors. Inside, they follow the enemy armored vehicles on a box equipped with a screen. “Mortar fire“, says the walkie-talkie. The mission of the drone that sneaks between the trees: find these mortars.

The small machine takes off before the eyes of the soldiers. “You see, we already have the image of the battlefield. Commanders can monitor the situation and make decisions very quickly, and this has an effect on the rest of the battle.“, explains one of the fighters. “And it’s in real time. It goes very quickly. Before, there wasn’t that.” adds another soldier.

To the Ukrainians the Bayrakhtar drones, coming from Türkiye. For the Russians, the Shaheds made in Iran. For the past year, the Ukrainian state has been encouraging local production. As in this workshop, at an undisclosed location, where men assemble drones measuring around thirty centimeters for the Ukrainian army. Loads can be transported for around ten kilometers before being released. “The main thing is to be rational. These are kamikaze drones. It must be cheap, effective and produced in large quantities.“, says one of the drone manufacturers.

Impossible to envisage victory without drones

At a few hundred euros each, it’s no big deal to lose when the target is a multi-million tank. More and more Ukrainians are training in this technology with the hope, if they are mobilized, of not being sent to the front line. “Everyone understands that, without this technology, we will not be able to win. It saved the lives of many soldiers. Instead of sending a whole group of scouts, we can send a drone. The loss of one of these birds is nothing compared to the life of a man“, insists Alexander who runs Dronarium, a pilot learning center near kyiv.

No one knows this better than these men found on the front, near Bakhmut. Two by two, they advance into their trench. A reconnaissance drone would change everything, recognizes their leader, Artur: “Drones are used to shoot or kill, provide intelligence or evacuate. Not much remains of old-fashioned warfare. Little by little, the war of the future begins“, he concludes. A terrifying war of the future, of which Ukraine is the laboratory.