Story of combat mission of attack drone crew

The red and black colours of the OUN flag symbolise the land and the blood shed for it. In Pavlychko's poetry, red is love and black is sorrow. [Dmytro Pavlychko was a Ukrainian poet and politician. In this case, the reference is to his poem Dva coliory (Two colours) - ed.]

In our report, the red-and-black photographs are the result of a lighting effect during the nighttime work of an attack drone crew. In the darkness, Ukrainian soldiers use only red flashlights to illuminate their surroundings, as they are less visible to Russian drones.

Food for some, landmines for others

We are on our way to visit the attack drone crew of the 24th Separate Mechanised Brigade named after King Danylo.

In order not to tempt Russian intelligence, the press officer leaves the car in the bushes at the entrance, and we enter the settlement on foot through the vegetable gardens. The village is extremely close to the contact line, so most of the residents have left their homes. The drone operators have set up a fighting position in one of the empty houses.

However, they come here only at night: the sun never sees them, only the moon and stars. It so happened that we were ahead of the soldiers - they arrived in a few minutes in a heavy jeep.

The drone crew's work begins with the installation of antennasAll photos: Oleh Petrasyuk

The soldiers are assembling the drone. They pay special attention to the blade fasteners.

If they become loose in flight, vibration increases and controllability deteriorates

Ammunition and spare power batteries are swiftly carried into the house. Radio communications antennas are quickly raised. A Perun drone, the size of a table that could comfortably seat two people, is taken out of the shipping container.

Four legs with blades are attached to it. And just like that, the combat aerial vehicle is ready. For tonight, the crew has two types of cargo: for the Russians and for Ukrainians.

For the Russians - bombs, and for Ukrainian infantry on the contact line - parcels with water, food, batteries, medicines and ammunition. What the infantrymen order, they get delivered.

The platform for the large drone is made of several building blocks, so it is easier to maintain the device - to change batteries, attach bombs

The drone operators start their night work with parcels. The principle is to take care of your own first, then "treat" the enemy.

The parcels are almost identical - each one is the size of a microwave. They have the exact coordinates of the places where they should be dropped off. Delivering supplies to Ukrainian Armed Forces positions is a daily mission for heavy-lift drones, including Perun.

A parcel for the infantry is attached to the bottom of Perun.

They try to keep all parcels the same size and weight. They are wrapped in cushioning material so that nothing breaks inside when dropped

The engines start to hum, and the drone slowly makes a 30-metre vertical flight, hovering slightly against the backdrop of the Big Dipper. And then it starts to move.

Illuminated by the bright moon, it stays in sight for a long time.

The green light of Perun is visible in the night sky, even against the backdrop of a bright moon

Actors and performers

One of the rooms in the house serves as a "flight command post". A heater-generator is running here. To warm up the space faster, they chose the smallest room in the house.

Before the flight, devices and gadgets are connected and set up.

Sitting in the master's chair, the fighter, who goes under the alias Hightower, checks his virtual reality goggles to control the drone

The three soldiers fit on an old sofa. We've been together with the drone crew for about twenty minutes, but before that we were always fumbling around outside in the dark, and now we finally saw each other in the light.

We get to know each other: sapper Slavko who is assigned to the crew, and drone operators who go under the aliases Hightower, Korzhyk (Cookie) and Rodzynka (Raisin). When the bomb-laden drone is heading towards its target, the guys can chat about all sorts of things

Soldier Pavlo, who goes under the alias Hightower, is the oldest in age.

In civilian life, he was the chief power engineer of an oblast fish farm in Podillia [Podillia is a historic region located in the west-central and south-western parts of Ukraine - ed.]. In the crew, he plays the role of an engineering technician, the owner of the quadcopter. But, like everyone else in the team, he can also be an operator and navigator.

Yurii, who goes under the alias Korzhyk (Cookie), is the crew chief, squad leader and chief operator of Perun.

In civilian life, he is a programmer. Today, his working tool is the drone's control panel. Maksym, who goes under the alias Rodzynka (Raisin), who is now the navigator, is responsible for communication with the command post and assists "Korzhyk".

Before the war, he graduated from college, where he studied computer science. He didn't have time to work - he joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces for conscript service, and that's where the war caught him. He is the youngest in the crew but has the most military experience - more than four years.

Rodzynka installs batteries on the drone.

They are changed after each flight of Perun

The fourth soldier is sapper Slavko. He is not a member of the UAV platoon but is seconded and is in charge of the bombs, equipping and hanging ammunition to the drone. His hands are always the last to touch the drone. "Korzhyk" will not launch the drone until he sees Slavko next to him.

This is the order required by safety precautions when working with explosives. From furniture shelves and drawers, Slavko makes a workplace for himself and, like a trader, lays out his "wares": 400-gram and 900-gram mines. There are also FAB bombs - high-explosive aerial bombs taken from the Russians.

They are designed to be dropped from aircraft, so the sappers modify them to reduce their weight because the Perun drone cannot carry a whole bomb.

Sapper Slavko prepares the bombs. They are transported in a semi-disassembled state, so he has to screw and securely fasten the plastic stabilisers. To do this, the sapper always has electrical tape, instant glue, etc. at hand

When attaching the bombs, Hightower uses disposable plastic ties, one of which he took into his mouth for a second so he wouldn't have to search for it in the dark

The old Soviet FABs are the only munitions painted in the colour of war, a usual military olive.

The rest are black, as they were made in our time, produced by the battalion's engineering unit with the help of a 3D printer. If it were not for the FABs, the Kalashnikov rifles in the corner and the camouflage clothes the guys are wearing, the house would look like a simple village house, not a combat position. Wardrobes, a TV, sofas, a washing machine, a gas stove - everything is from civilian life.

While the UAV is flying, the bomb disposal expert can take a little break

How Perun UAV works

There are two tablets, one for the navigator and another for the operator.

The navigator's tablet shows a general satellite image; you can see how the Perun UAV is heading towards Chasiv Yar. As it approaches the target, "Korzhyk" zooms out on his tablet to see the houses and sheds on the city's outskirts. Our reconnaissance men found Russian positions in some houses and sheds the day before - they must be destroyed.

We are flying up to the first target.

"Hightower" and "Rodzynka" monitor the situation through electronic devices during the flight

- Do you think we'll destroy this house with two 400 mm projectiles? - "Rodzynka" asks, smiling. - Maybe yes, maybe no. I don't think so.

But we'll see. - says "Korzhyk", preparing to drop the bomb.

He concentrates. At such moments, all three of them lean closer to the tablet, almost touching it with their foreheads but so as not to knock out the elbow of "Korzhyk", whose fingers are on the "Drop" button. Now, the first bomb is launched and, drilling through the air, plummets to the ground.

The explosion is inaudible, but the Perun's camera can see a cloud of dust. Half of the roof was blown off, but the building withstood it. The second 400-gram bomb did not completely destroy it either.

- Ah, just as I thought! I should have made a bet with you on something; at least on coffee, I would have won. - "Rodzynka" jokes. When the drone flies "to work" or returns, the guys have a few quiet minutes to chat. "Korzhyk" and "Rodzynka" have a common hobby, anime cartoons, so they discuss the latest releases.

The older "Hightower" does not participate in such conversations. - Maksym, you've served the longest. Don't you want to be an officer? - the commander asks "Rodzynka".

- Oh, I don't think so! - "Rodzynka" answers. - Why?! It's cool: You fill out a report, they'll give you a sergeant in a month, then a junior lieutenant, a senior, and you go on and on...Career growth up to the general.

You'd be eating the general's salo and growing a belly so big that you could put a glass of beer with a cocktail straw on top of it to drink without taking your hands out of your pockets. [General's salo is pork fat with layers of meat - ed.] You'd take a sip, and then you'd come to check on us. We'd be sitting on this sofa, flying the Perun UAV, and you'd come in with a beer and a straw: "What, damn! Hey?!", - commander says.

The guys are laughing without taking a break from their work.

The guys allow themselves to use the white light of a torch for a few seconds

"Damn, there are 18 satellites left! But there were 35, what the hell?"

- I went on a reconnaissance mission yesterday and found a Perun just like ours. - says "Rodzynka". - Where is it? - "Hightower" asks.

- Near the gas station at the entrance, hanging from trees, on branches, - answers "Rodzynka".

- Whose could it be? - "Hightower" asks. - Maybe someone from our brigade lost it, eh? - Can we go get it?

"Hightover" opens the map on his smartphone: - Near the gas station, here? You're crazy!

It's about 300 metres from the Russians. They'll kill us on the approach! - I'm ready to take it off if you take me there with two Peruns.

I'll hook it with a carbine and the four of us will come back - three Perun UAVs and I. - "Rodzynka" laughs. The guys laugh. - Maksym, you should be writing scripts for action movies.

But really, why would you want to be a general, carrying this beer on your belly; you'll spill it. I've changed my mind: after the war, you go to a screenwriting course and go straight to Hollywood! The drone returned and landed on its "platform", which was made out of four concrete blocks.

The guys are going to inspect it. It's time for a mechanic and a bomb disposal expert. "Hightower" changes the batteries, checks the attachment of the blades, and twists something with a wrench.

Together with Slavko, he attaches ammunition. And then it's off to take off again. This is how the guys hit targets one by one.

They decided to "clear the debt" in the last run - to finish off that house they started with. Perun UAV is almost at the target, and suddenly, the navigator's voice is heard: - Damn, there are 18 satellites left!

But there were 35, what the hell? - Here you go! It is our last bomb!

- I hope it'll be okay. - "Korzhyk" says, sounding annoyed. As the guys explained, the more satellites there are, the better. The drone takes coordinates from satellites.

More satellites mean more information and more accurate aiming. Why are there suddenly only 18 visible out of 35? Whims of the weather?

Air humidity? Atmospheric pressure? The wind?

Now that the target is almost in sight, we can attack. But then, we see snow on the screen, and the image disappears. "Korzhyk" still manages to drop the last bomb, but evaluating the hit is no longer possible. - Ah, at the most interesting place. - the crew commander is annoyed.

*** That night, they conducted four transport and eight combat missions, dropping 22 rounds of ammunition and hitting nine targets. Although the UAV is called Perun, the Russians call it Baba Yaga.

So be it. In the end, the fairy-tale Baba Yaga is a scary character; she scares naughty children. This is a good semantic parallel in this case: be afraid, enemy!

The bombs are prepared, and they are about to be hung from the drone.

Two branded 400 mm projectiles (own design and manufacture of the pyrotechnic workshop of the UAV strike unit) and a FAB, air-dropped bomb, adapted for Perun, the trophy from the Russians. The bombs are attached, and in a few seconds, the guys go for cover. Then Slavko, taking a step back, will perform the last manipulation before takeoff -- put the ammunition on the firing report.

As the boys fiddled around with the drone and the red flashlights attached to their body armour flickered, I felt a strange colour aesthetic - the dance of red "fireflies" against the black background of the night garden. Red hands, red faces, a red drone, and the darkness of the night.

I allowed myself to compare guys to devils in hell jokingly. At first, they wanted to be offended, but photographer Oleh showed them the photo, and we decided they were devils only for enemies. They create hell for them.

- Ah, well, if so, then it's okay: I agree to be the devil for f*ggot. - Yes! Accepted! - "Hightower" said.

Author: Vadym Petrasiuk
Photographer: Oleh Petrasiuk
Translation: Yuliia Kravchenko and Yelyzaveta Khodatska
Editing: Anastasiia Kolesnykova