Counter-UAS

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 here, braving the constant Russian shelling. Opposite a gas station near the front line, which runs just a few kilometers from the city limits, two burnt-out pickup trucks stand half-buried in the bushes. 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 area. 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 primary targets are vehicles of the Ukrainian army transporting soldiers and supplies. They are easily audible, racing with roaring engines over the asphalt. With full speed, they head towards Kostjantynivka. Speed is crucial for survival. The faster the vehicles move, the more difficult it is for Russian drone pilots to hit them. Thus, the vehicles thunder forward with brutal acceleration toward the defense lines. Kostjantynivka resembles a ghost town and is now largely destroyed. Collapsed and burned-out apartment blocks line the street. The train station is just a pile of rubble; even the church across the way is a ruin. Russian troops are already in the eastern suburbs.

Possible targets

A pick-up truck rushes past a small group of soldiers. On the truck bed sit soldiers with ready-to-fire assault rifles, prepared to shoot at attacking drones. However, the assault team is supposed to keep them off their backs. Additionally, they need to eliminate the drones that the enemy forces have „parked“ on the road, usually equipped with anti-tank missiles, waiting for a potential target. Unlike so-called „loitering munitions“, they do not hover in the air but only take off when a vehicle approaches.

Only a few civilians remain in the often largely destroyed villages. The woman stops with her bike as the soldier aims at a drone

„Or an unwary civilian“, mutters one of the soldiers irritably. In the distance, a woman pushes a bicycle along the road through a partially destroyed village. Soldiers have taken cover under trees in front of the ruins. Just when a drone appears. The fighters have a scanner to detect the enemy aircraft’s radio waves. If it gets close enough, the monitor displays what the enemy drone pilot sees. It’s eerie for the soldiers to see themselves on the screen. And dangerous. If they fail to hit the drone, they themselves become the target.

Frozen face

In that moment, other drone hunters open fire. Gunfire from assault rifles breaks the silence. A machine gun also rattles. By now, the woman with her bike has approached to within about 20 meters. The gunfire rings out uninterrupted. Obviously, she doesn’t know what to do. So, the woman remains frozen in place. One soldier in the group has already fired. Another drops back and takes aim at the drone from there. Then the enemy aircraft is shot down, and silence returns. The soldiers march on, passing the young woman who stands frozen next to her bike.

The drone hunters are trying to shoot down kamikaze drones with rapid-fire guns. Missing their target can have deadly consequences

After a while, the drone hunters pass a former factory. The mood is good. For some time, a dog has been following them. The soldiers know her. She has been given the unflattering name Shelma. Translated diplomatically, it means something like „slut“. The name comes from her occasionally strange behavior. Like that of an older man who wobbles by on his bike and is barked at by the dog. „Stop it“, calls Ruslan, one of the drone hunters, to the dog and whistles. The dog then trots back beside the soldiers.

Moment of shock

The good mood is abruptly interrupted by the impact of an artillery shell. But only for a moment. Then it crashes again. This time, so loudly and close that the soldiers begin to run. Away from the road and into the next ruin. The masonry at least provides some protection from shrapnel. The third impact tears through the air with a loud bang. Then it becomes quiet.

Drone hunters patrol on a road in the „Death Zone“

„Just another normal day“, laughs Ruslan. After the scare, the men light up a cigarette. The scanner’s monitor shows no drones nearby. A vehicle hisses past on the road again. „If this war with Iran continues like this, there could be gasoline rationing. That’s what I’ve heard“,  says Ruslan. Already, the soldiers are urged to conserve gasoline and diesel. „But how? If our guys drive slower, they’ll get hit by a drone“, another soldier interjects. Then they discuss rising fuel prices across the country. „It’s bad“, says 26-year-old Ruslan, scratching thoughtfully at his beard.

Rising oil prices

The war in the Middle East is also affecting events in the death zone in the Donbas. The soldiers are aware that it’s not just about oil prices. The USA can hardly be seen as a partner anymore. Trump’s indecision is working to Putin’s advantage. The new war could lead the US president to abandon Ukraine altogether. Russia is the big beneficiary of the war between Israel and the USA against Iran. Rising oil and gas prices are refilling the aggressor’s war chest. In international media, the situation in Ukraine is disappearing from the headlines. The struggle of Ruslan and his comrades risks being forgotten worldwide. Soldiers in uniform are not allowed to make political statements while on duty. His comrade Sergej cleverly navigates this: „We will do everything to ensure that no one forgets Ukraine“, says the soldier.

Like in a spider’s web: a Russian drone has become tangled in the protective nets

Ruslan nods thoughtfully. He then recounts a Russian drone attack on a small evacuation transport. „Two elderly women literally had their heads blown off. One more survived with injuries. We rescued her from the car“, reports Ruslan. He shakes his head in anger. „The Russians do not adhere to international law. To the Geneva Conventions. What goes through the mind of a drone pilot who kills grandmothers?”, he asks. „The world must see what is happening here“, he adds.

Knowledge transfer

But the world is upside down. 200 Ukrainian drone specialists are said to be helping Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates defend against Iranian Shahed drones. However, this means that air defense units are missing back home. The support of important US allies in the Middle East is seen as a gesture towards Washington. The Ukrainian government hopes to receive much-needed Patriot missiles from Middle Eastern countries in return. These are needed to intercept ballistic missiles. In the first days of the war alone, the Gulf states attacked by Iran shot down over 300 Patriot missiles. Often, they brought down only cheap Shahed drones – mass-produced instruments of destruction. This is more than has been delivered to Ukraine in total since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion.

The 26-year-old Ruslan hunts drones. A dangerous task that can end fatally for the young soldier

With long-range drones and ballistic missiles, Russia terrorizes the entire Ukraine. Air defense protects what is most important to Ruslan: his wife and their young son, who live in the Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, and barely 150 kilometers south of the border with Belarus. The Ukrainian defenders have held out against a superior opponent for four years of the full-scale invasion. They fought successfully, despite a lack of even artillery ammunition. Now, perhaps a fuel shortage is being added as a new challenge. Once again, the cards are being reshuffled. Ruslan prefers not to think about it at all. Every day, he shoots down at least two drones, somewhere between a destroyed gas station and the ruins of a factory. „That’s my job and all I can do right now“, he explains.