At the Armed Forces command near Pokrovsk soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, it is visible as on the palm of the hand - NPR (photo)

"They are going to launch our drones in the field," said a 35-year-old military mechanic, named Yuri. According to him, in civilian life he was a game designer, and then, early this year, he joined the ranks of defense forces. Yuri's work is to repair some of the most dangerous drones of the 68th Brigade, which protects Pokrovsk. He watched how the team lifted two five -screw drones in the truck with small lawn mowers.

"These are not the latest technologies, but rather our working horses," he said about these models. Then the fighters loaded homemade explosive devices that have a sinister look. "We will attach them to the drone and drop them tonight," said one of the soldiers, a 34-year-old commander of the drone platoon with Sonik call sign. In the shop, crowded with equipment and soldiers, this weapon is manufactured and repaired.

A 3D printer is buzzing in one corner that produces spare parts for damaged drones. The driver's drone body was printed on a 3D printer in the UAV's secret shop. Faced with a desperate shortage of personnel, Ukraine is increasingly using UAVs and remotely managed robotics. The goal is to slow down Russia and weaken its fighting power while sacrificing as little to Ukrainian soldiers as possible. According to one of the indicators, the strategy works.

The Institute of War Study (ISW) found that Russia is losing almost 60 soldiers killed and wounded, for every square kilometer of enthusiastic land in eastern Ukraine. According to ISW estimates, Russia could lose up to 3,000 people in the Pokrovsk region in two weeks in early December. Not far, in the second house, the windows of which are carefully glued with black plastic, the operational staff of the drone team center is preparing for deadly night work.

It is a harsh place, similar to a rural hunting camp, full of buzzing computers and large TVs with a flat screen. "I look at 16-18 broadcasts from our drone pilots," the next officer of the team, a 37-year-old man with a call sign "Pip" explained. His work is to help pilots faster and more effectively attack Russian units. He explained that his team could also help to approach other units, including infantry, which is fighting from trenches and fortifications.

"If the hostile infantry is approaching our positions, the soldiers open the machine from machine guns, and the enemy lies, they no longer pay attention to our UAVs, and then we get them," - explained "Pip" one of the tactics of the unit. The cruel reality is that both parties use drones more and more intensively and effectively as this war is delayed. Hundreds of kilometers fly away from remote controls to hit cities, military facilities and factories away from the front line.

Little deadly FPV switches over frozen trenches, fields and city streets in places such as Pokrovsk. Both Russians and Ukrainians are killed. Yuri, a former programmer, says that, in his opinion, Ukraine's unmanned operations are smarter and deadly than Russian. He believes that the attacks of the unit weaken Russia's offensive and force Moscow to pay a high price. At the same time, he says that it is clear that only remote weapons will not be enough to stop a much larger Russian army.