On the ground with Ukraine's drone forces targeting Russia's battlefield rear

EASTERN UKRAINE, May 29 ------ In a corn field in eastern Ukraine, soldiers fired drones ‌into the sky using a slingshot, aiming at military targets in the country's Russian-occupied east, dozens of kilometers away.

"We're focusing on the enemy's bases in the field, ammunition depots and air-defense systems," said their commander from the 1st Center of the Unmanned Systems Forces - ​an elite drone unit - who asked to be identified by his call sign "Kyt," which means "whale".

His men had ​unpacked drones from crates and assembled them at the launch site. Using a laptop computer, ⁠a soldier programmed each drone with a target before it was loaded onto the slingshot. A soldier started the ​propeller using an electric screwdriver before it was fired into the sky. Ukraine is pouring resources into such "middle strikes" that target ​Russian air defenses and military logistics between 30 km (19 miles) and 180 km behind the front line. President Volodymyr Zelensky said this month these strikes have quadrupled since February.

Ukrainian officials and military analysts credit these attacks with helping to slow Russian advances, shifting momentum on ​the battlefield. According to the Deep State open-source map, Russia captured only around 50 sq km of territory this month. "The ​enemy's rear is no longer a safe haven," Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, a 35-year-old tech enthusiast, said on Wednesday, opens new tab, announcing a further ‌5 billion ⁠hryvnias ($113 million) in funding for the most effective middle-strike units.

Source: reuters.com