Inside a darkened trench a few miles away, Ukrainian soldiers of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade’s strike drone company got to work. A pilot tightened the plastic blades of his hand-built machine, strapped a fuel bomb to its belly and lifted off.
Through a pair of goggles, the operator, call sign Sapsan, piloted the drone across the scarred battlefield in southern Ukraine, gliding the craft toward his target.