Unveiling the Secret: The Deployment of Small Explosive Drones within Ukraine's War Zone

The four-man drone unit has resorted to a makeshift method of attaching old grenades and mortars to small, online-purchased drones, and utilizing virtual reality headsets to guide them toward Russian targets. Although it is not the type of warfare they had initially anticipated, it proves to be both effective and cost-efficient.

In a ramshackle cottage located not far from Kherson city and the Dnipro River, the 11th National Guard Samosud Squad is compensating for the United States' delay in providing aid to Ukraine by employing creative, low-budget tactics: launching small explosive drones at Russian targets across the Dnipro River.

CNN was granted rare access to observe the attacks being made by one of Ukraine's First Person View (FPV) drone teams. This game-changing technology has been harnessed by both Ukraine and Russia, delivering payloads from light grenades to thermobaric weapons to devastating effect. The unit visited by CNN, located outside of Kherson city, requested their names and location be withheld for safety. Their operations room, approximately 15 square meters, is filled with boxes and plastic bags of munitions, piles of drone chassis and propellers, a large TV screen, and pairs of goggles commonly used in gaming.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy delivered a news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine on Tuesday, November 21, 2023. During the conference, Zelenskiy cautioned his military leadership against involvement in politics, indirectly addressing a recent clash with his top commander. Photographer: Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg/Getty Images

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"We have been incredibly busy, launching 15 to 20 drones," stated one pilot. "I only have 10 minutes between flights to rest. This is not the war I imagined." The pilot noted that only about a third of those trained can operate the goggles for an extended period, and some experience dizziness and disorientation after use.

The lethal violence they bring is a disconcerting mix of the remote and the intimate. The team launches along the main highway across the river, where only Russian military vehicles operate, usually at night. "They are aware of the threat we pose," stated the team leader, noting that Russian troops have limited their movements in daylight across a swathe of the front as a result.

As the drone hovers over the desolate landscape of sand, fallen trees, and intricate trenches, the team decides to focus on a well-established checkpoint along the road, assuming it is always staffed. The drone changes direction, maneuvers in a circular motion, and eventually zooms in on the green tarpaulin of its intended target. The screen suddenly flickers with static and then turns blue.

A UAV operator wears a cloak to conceal his heat signature from thermal imaging Russian drones.

Christian Streib/CNN

The eastern bank of Ukraine has unexpectedly become a success story, with Kyiv gradually increasing its forces on the occupied side of the Dnipro River, putting pressure on Russian units and making slow progress to the Western access route to the Crimean peninsula. Despite criticism for being hard to resupply, resulting in Ukrainian casualties, and draining scarce resources, advances into Krynky have provided some positive news from what has otherwise been a static front line. The summer counteroffensive has failed to achieve the breakthrough hoped for, despite receiving billions of dollars of NATO aid.

Ukraine may have less than a billion dollars left for war aid, and additional funding has been delayed due to a divided US Congress. The FPV unit is aware of the challenges they will face without continued US financing. "I think it will be very difficult without American help," said one soldier as he prepared explosives and expressed the need for supplies. Their unit relies on volunteer funding.

Five drones cost about the same as a single artillery shell - around $3,000 - according to the team leader, who added that the shells are often inaccurate.

Budget technology

Continuous tips were being received by the unit from various Ukrainian drone and surveillance teams. An antenna was spotted protruding from a tin-roofed building, indicating the presence of another drone unit. It was reported that their Russian counterparts were stationed in a red-roofed house, making this location the top priority. Subsequently, two drones were deployed, with one taking the lead and remaining visible just meters away on its partner's feed.

"It's located at 10 o'clock from the blue-roofed school," the unit leader informed. The first drone descended and its camera then tilted upwards towards the sky.

"The pilot reports that the signal has been interrupted by a Russian jamming device, causing the drone to fall to the ground with its explosive charge. The screen then goes blue.

The second drone picks up the trail and locates the red-roofed house set back from the main road. The team leader identifies the first floor and the drone moves in, but the transmission is abruptly cut short by a blast, causing the screen to turn blue. "Boom," says the pilot."

Destruction in Kherson city, where artillery and drones whiz over head.

Christian Streib/CNN

The night shift operates from a separate building located at a distance. The room is filled with red light and makeshift, affordable technology that has rapidly transformed the battlefield into the deadly domain of drones.

In this scenario, a team of three individuals is tasked with monitoring frequencies in order to detect the signature bandwidth of a Russian Orlan drone. Equipped with a rare yet effective anti-drone rifle, they are able to jam UAVs at close range. However, their primary concern is the use of thermal imaging by both sides to detect infantry and vehicles in the cold winter nights. As their cameras pick up heat signatures in a forest near Krynky, one of the team members, referred to as "Journalist," identifies them as Russian positions.

The freezing fog poses a challenge for some drones, limiting their ability to fly at higher altitudes and carry out their tasks. The unit has been dealing with the constant nuisance of winter weather. However, it has also provided the unit with a new method for evading detection by Russian thermal cameras: a specially designed poncho with a face visor attached. This poncho is kept outside in the cold, allowing its lining to retain the freezing temperature of the air. When worn, it only emits the heat from the soldiers' arms and legs.

On December 7, 2023, a panoramic view of Avdiivka, Ukraine, covered in snow, was captured by a drone. The city has recently been the subject of territorial gains claimed by both Ukraine and Russia, with Russia persisting in its efforts to capture the city in the eastern Donetsk Region of Ukraine. (Photo by Kostya Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)

The unit explained that wearing it made the wearer invisible to the Russian drones' thermal imaging, comparing the feeling to being like Neil Armstrong in the war.

Kherson's civilians found no relief in the night. On Sunday, Shahed-type Russian drones flew over the city, a menacing sight and sound. The city was plunged into darkness as the drones approached, with only the glow of passing vehicles and sporadic anti-aircraft fire breaking the nighttime stillness.

The city was relentlessly battered. By Monday noon, artillery shells were raining down every few minutes, with the whistling of rounds passing overhead becoming a common sound in the city center. Despite the constant danger, thousands of Kherson residents remained in the streets, seemingly unfazed by the level of destruction more typical of a war zone.

Warped normality

Despite Kherson being liberated in November of last year, it still remains under the strong control of Russia's war. Ukraine's minor advancements on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River have brought about intense attacks from Russian artillery on the population centers, resulting in significant damage to many residential buildings. Kherson stands as a stark example of Ukraine's stance against living near Russian occupied territory, as Moscow's relentless gunfire continues to impose a distorted sense of normalcy on daily life.

A rush of primarily elderly locals formed a line on Sunday morning, all heading in the same direction. They had heard that the church would be giving out aid from a nearby hall. Dozens of people crowded around the doorway for about 15 minutes until the supplies ran out. At one point, two pensioners seemed to be fighting over a food package. Natalia, 75, claimed that life was "fine."

An aid distribution point in Kherson city. Some days there aren't enough packages for everyone in line.

Newly-installed blast barriers ominously encircle several children's playgrounds. Due to multiple artillery strikes, the city's maternity hospital has relocated its ward to 1970s-built stronghold rooms in the basement. Staff noted that instead of accommodating twenty patients, they can now only accommodate three.

Despite the intense shelling that rocked the locals awake in the small hours of Monday, Yevhenia gave birth at 4 a.m. to her tiny daughter, Kira. She is determined that they will only leave Kherson if the heating fails this winter, as their family and friends are mostly there. "Why would I leave? It's my home," she said. "We've gotten used to the shelling."

Her daughter Kira was conceived in spring, when an end to the war was imaginable, yet born into a city caught in Russias slow grind to nothing.