In the pitch-black night along the Ukrainian front, soldiers from the 23rd Mechanized Brigade's drone unit, Clear Eyes, engage in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. Their weapon of choice is a first-person view (FPV) drone, used to hunt Russian soldiers who dare to venture into the open around Chasiv Yar, a besieged town in eastern Ukraine that straddles the front line since Russian forces captured Bakhmut last year.
As dusk settles, intelligence gathered by DJI Mavic drones and reconnaissance drones helps guide the night bombing missions. These aerial scouts have tracked Russian troop movements, pinpointing their attempts to establish new positions and dig protective trenches. With nightfall, the Russians hide in their dugouts, unaware that shortly, Ukrainian drones will drop bombs on their positions.
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As the soldiers drive to their position on the front, the driver turns off all the vehicle’s lights. Without night vision, he drives in complete darkness. Nothing is visible around us. At some point, it seems like we will crash into something. It feels as if the driver is navigating solely from memory of the roads.
As the van gets closer to the drop-off point, houses in the area are burning, recently shelled by the Russians. In a flurry of movement, they disembark, unload their gear, and dash for cover amidst active enemy fire. The van quickly speeds away, leaving us in the heart of the front.
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Once underground, the soldiers wait for things to quiet down before taking their gear outside, using red lights as they begin setting up their operations. When the moment is right, they emerge, bathed in the soft red glow of their lights, to establish their operational lifeline – a Starlink connection and antenna. Once established, they receive their night’s objectives: a list of targets identified by reconnaissance teams.
The soldiers begin equipping the FPV drone with night vision and then attach the first batch of explosives to the drone. One of the soldiers in the dugout takes the drone outside to deploy it. Yevhenii, whose callsign is “Bird,” dons his immersive goggles and takes control.
“We can only stop their assaults and hold our lines with our drones,” said Yevhenii. With a gentle hum, the drone takes flight, becoming an extension of Yevhenii's will as it races toward Russian positions.
The assault is relentless. The drone flies back and forth, attacking with precision. Volodymyr, known by his callsign “Panda,” rushes to retrieve the drone once it lands, reloading it with fresh projectiles. The team quickly transitions to attaching bottles of flammable liquid to the drone. The drone drops a bottle, creating what looks like a “flying Molotov cocktail,” forcing Russian soldiers from their hideouts. Within an hour, five enemy soldiers scatter in panic across Chasiv Yar.
Quickly, the team rearms the drone with mini-bombs. Yevhenii, displaying remarkable skill, pursues the fleeing Russians. With a slight touch on the controller, he releases a bomb, scoring a direct hit. The dugout erupts in cheers of “Yes, yes!” as they witness the effectiveness of their operation. One Russian soldier, after being hit, stands up and keeps running for a while longer, prompting the Ukrainian soldiers to comment that he was running on adrenaline, like a headless chicken.
They continue to fly back and forth, loading more bombs on the FPV drone and hitting more Russian positions.
Between drone flights, I asked Yevhenii to share a few words for the American public. “We are trying our best. We cherish and value the help that America is giving us. We are still holding on,” he said.
As morning breaks, it's time for me to leave. A supply van arrives with a fresh stock of bombs, food, and water for the soldiers. The driver, hyper-alert, speeds around the corner. Before I can fully board, we're already in reverse, racing away from the front.
The landscape we speed through is apocalyptic.
Smoke rises from houses still smoldering from the night’s artillery barrage. Explosions punctuate the air. The driver, hunched forward, his face nearly touching the steering wheel, navigates a deadly obstacle course – watching for land mines and enemy FPV drones as we drive toward safety.
“Driving so fast means we destroy our vehicles quickly,” the driver says as we speed through the bumpy roads.
The drone unit commander Heorhii Volkov of Clear Eyes praised Yevhenii's abilities the following day. “He is always critical of himself, trying to learn from his mistakes and improve with each mission. He is eager to grow as a pilot,” he said.
The demands of war push these soldiers to their limits. Due to personnel shortages, they often remain in position for days without relief. One soldier, known as “Joker,” holds the unit record – He had eight consecutive days of FPV drone combat, snatching brief moments of sleep between missions.
Joker was recently killed in action. He was only 20 years old. His commander, Heorhii Volkov commented that in the last eight months of his work, the young man was responsible for killing or injuring more than 200 Russian soldiers.
For now, Ukraine holds the line in Chasiv Yar largely due to the work of drone units like Clear Eyes, whose efforts prevent relentless Russian assaults from breaking through. Yet, relying solely on the bravery and ingenuity of its soldiers can sustain the defense only for so long without the raw firepower and weaponry that Ukraine needs from the West.
Back at base, Serhii – the leader of the nighttime drone bombing operations who goes by his callsign “Fly” – shared his perspective on the uphill battle they face.
“The Russians have significantly more artillery and effective aviation,” he explained, frustration clear in his voice. “Chasiv Yar has many buildings, and the Russians charge in waves every day. They come, gather their men, and dig deep into the basements. Slowly, they take more and more ground,” Serhii said.
Serhii said he firmly believes that with enough shells and rockets, Ukraine could change the course of the war.
“The West only gives us enough supplies and weapons to remain on the defensive,” he said, pointing out that their current resources allow them to hold the line but not to push forward. Rising from his chair as if to underscore his point, Serhii made his message clear.
“Europe and the US must give us what we need to win. We're protecting them from Russia too,” he said.
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