Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 37-year-old Heorhiy Volkov was a business and marketing professional and owner of a digital agency. Just days after it began, he contacted a former colleague who had used a drone to film a commercial for him, urging him to bring it to help patrol the streets of Dnipro.
Within a few months, Volkov had assembled a unit of enthusiasts to help run Ukrainian drone operations on the frontline. “I wasn’t a military person, nor was I Rambo with an AK-47, but I knew I had to do something to fight Russian evil,” he said.
Now, as part of the 23rd Mechanized Brigade, Volkov and his Yasni Ochi (“Clear Eyes”) drone unit are holding the front at the key town of Chasiv Yar. His unit played a role in supporting the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region in 2023, and by early 2024, it was fighting off the Russian offensive in Avdiivka, and later Kharkiv, before moving on to its current position, scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the war.
Drone warfare has been revolutionized in the two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, and with troops and ammunition in short supply, Ukraine has made a virtue of necessity. Drone units often feel that senior officers and politicians fail to understand their work, leaving them to spend their own money to improve the weaponry. In the process, drones have become extraordinarily lethal.
During a six-month period of intense combat in the Avdiivka sector, the 150-strong unit suffered few casualties, Volkov said, with one soldier lost, two seriously wounded, and two others sustaining minor injuries. During that time, the unit’s First-Person View (FPV) drones had a significant impact on the battlefield, killing or wounding 1,500 Russian soldiers, he said.
The drone operators may not be at the most forward part of the battle line, but they are close enough. While visiting the unit, this author saw the sky above the battlefield filled with drones, tanks firing, and incoming and outgoing artillery fire. Told to take cover in one building, we arrived to find it ablaze.
Serhii, a Ukrainian drone pilot, highlighted the critical role of units like Yasni Ochi in holding the line as conventional weapons and ammunition run short. “Our infantry in the trenches depends on us to repel the daily Russian assaults, especially with our dwindling supply of artillery shells,” he said.
The Russians have also adapted their tactics in response to Ukraine’s defenses. In the past, they would launch mass assaults with dozens of soldiers backed by heavy armor, making it easier for Ukrainian forces to repel them. In Chasiv Yar, they now use smaller, more agile groups, often arriving on motorcycles or light vehicles, which allows them to quickly dismount and evade targeted attacks.
“Once one or two Russian soldiers enter a building, they immediately start digging in — and they dig deep,” Serhii said. “Gradually, more Russians manage to join them. Over days or even weeks, they gather their forces until they’re ready for a renewed assault on Ukrainian positions.”
At this point, the inequality in resources — and the Russian commanders’ willingness to sacrifice their troops — becomes critical.
“They hit us with everything they’ve got — artillery, glide bombs, you name it,” Serhii said. “The Russians suffer heavy losses, but with enough glide bombs, we’re eventually forced to retreat.”
The drone unit works 24/7 and must be constantly vigilant. During the day, groups conduct FPV attacks against Russian soldiers and heavy armor approaching Ukrainian positions. Other groups fly DJI Mavic drones for reconnaissance and to give a battlefield view.
Behind the frontlines, Ukrainian operators monitor live feeds from Mavic drones, carefully marking the coordinates of Russian positions and identifying areas where Russian soldiers might be hiding or have been spotted. These locations are then plotted on a digital map, with the coordinates recorded in a shared document.
As night falls, headquarters issues orders to the drone teams, outlining their missions. The night FPV units continue to fly, striking Russian positions under the cover of darkness, while teams equipped with larger drones, such as the Vampire, also conduct operations.
“Everything changes every two to three weeks in drone warfare,” said Volkov. He would like AI-enabled drones to help with targeting, but the $150 add-on is too expensive. Soldiers in the unit already have to pool their paychecks to buy supplies, he said.
“The army just gives us drones. From there, we need to buy everything else ourselves such as antennas and a whole host of supplies to ensure we can fly and conduct operations,” he told this author. “The generals and people in parliament funding the budget don’t understand how fast warfare changes out here and how our needs evolve.”
Back at base, Volkov monitors the drone feeds, communicating with his team to gather insights on which strategies succeeded and where they fell short. In the “kitchen,” engineers tinker with the drones, experimenting with different explosives and modifications as the unit seeks to improve its combat capabilities.
Outgunned and outnumbered, like many on the front lines, the servicemen and women of Yasni Ochi pool their resources and rely on their own ingenuity to hold their ground.
David Kirichenko is a freelance journalist and an Associate Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society. He can be found on X/Twitter @DVKirichenko.
Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions expressed on Europe’s Edge are those of the author alone and may not represent those of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis. CEPA maintains a strict intellectual independence policy across all its projects and publications.
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