While a debate about the detection and defense against illegally operated drones is ongoing in Germany, Counter-UAS in Ukraine is a matter of life and death every day. Behind the first line of defense, special „drone hunters“ take down enemy aircraft in the Donbas. It’s a dangerous job. Furthermore, there is an additional concern, especially near the front lines, as the war in the Middle East could have serious consequences here.

Just a few years ago, almost 70,000 people lived in Kostjantynivka in eastern Ukraine. Today, only a few residents remain. Across from a gas station near the front, two burned-out pickups sit half-hidden in the brush. The gas station itself is a ruin. A crater gapes in the asphalt. Only a steel skeleton rises above the demolished fuel pumps, under which the former sales area lies, black and windowless. A handful of soldiers pass by on the road in front. Drone hunters. They look like knights in their bulletproof vests, heavy boots, helmets, and rifles with mounted scopes.

Protective nets

However, there is no room for knightly romance in this war-torn city. Rolls of barbed wire line the road. Over the soldiers’ heads, nets are stretched out, providing at least some protection. However, there are always holes and tears in the nets caused by Russian kamikaze drones. The fighters march through the so-called death zone, which extends from the front line up to 20 kilometers deep into the rear area. Russian Grad rockets strike here just as much as glide bombs and artillery shells. In the air, kamikaze drones buzz, hunting anything that moves.

The „Death Zone“: destroyed gas stations, villages in ruins, burned-out wrecks at the roadside

Their prim…