A Russian missile system fires rockets every second into the snowy streets of Ukraine’s northern city of Trostyanets. Tanks and military vehicles stand on either side of the blasting artillery system, between houses and near the city’s railway system. However the weapon alone is not working. Hovering ten meters above it and recording the attack is a Ukrainian drone. The drone is not a sophisticated military system, but a small, commercial machine that anyone can buy.
Since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in late February, drones of all shapes and sizes have been used by both sides in the conflict. At one end of the scale are large military drones that can be used for aerial surveillance and attacking targets on the ground. In contrast, small commercial drones can be flown by people without any specific training and carried in a suitcase-sized box. While both types of drones have been used in past conflicts, the current scale of small, commercial drone use in Ukraine is unprecedented.
Drone videos shared and posted on social media depict the brutality of the war and narrate what happened during the fighting. Drones have captured the fight Ukrainian city of Buchan destroyed, lines of tanks around the streets and the movement of troops along them. Commercial drones help journalists document Mass destruction in Kyiv and MariupoloFly over burnt buildings that have turned into rubble.
Russian soldiers reportedly caught on camera shooting civilians holding hands in the air, Drone video shows Ukrainian soldiers shelling Russian targets, monitoring their movements in real time, and Russian soldiers ambushed, In one video, a drone sees Russian military vehicles trailing soldiers—they run behind the transport and fall in the snow, In another, the drone hovers in the air and records a helicopter shot while flying down,
“Drones changed the way of warfare,” says Valery Ikovenko, founder of Ukrainian drone company DroneUA. “It’s all about intelligence, gathering and transferring data about enemy soldiers’ movements or positions, fixing artillery fire. It’s about the saboteurs’ actions, and that’s certainly the search.” And there’s a rescue operation.” Yakovenko estimates that the Ukrainian military is operating more than 6,000 drones for reconnaissance and says these can connect with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite systems to upload footage. “In 2014, drones became the focus of intelligence units, but their scale cannot be compared to what we see today,” he says. (Russia first launched an invasion of Ukraine with its annexation of Crimea in 2014.)
Both Ukraine and Russia have used military drones during the war, and Ukraine has received a donation of drones from the US. These military drones can often fly at high altitudes for long periods of time and can fire at targets, including ships. However, the use of small commercial drones in such a high number stands out, the researchers say. These drones, which can sometimes be weak and cannot fly away from their operators or stay in the air for long periods of time, offer a tactical advantage in some cases. (Commercial drones have been used in past conflicts, for example in Syria, but not as widespread in Ukraine.)
