‘This is where democracy beats totalitarianism’: Ukraine’s drone strike force takes the fight to Russia

Ray, the commander of Ukraine’s ninth ‘Kairos’ Battalion, an elite long-and-medium-range strike drone unit. ‘I feel revenge and a sense of justice,’ he says of his aerial attacks on Russia. Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian

Sparrows were cheeping as the sun set over a field of tall yellow sunflowers when a moped-like growl suddenly disturbed the evening calm. The noise rose, dipped, and rose again. Lt Col Ray – a Ukrainian commander with the 414th aviation brigade – took cover in a leafy ditch.

Seconds later a Ukrainian drone roared into a mauve sky. It jerked upwards at a 45-degree angle, orange flames fizzing, and then motored serenely onwards. The flying object resembled a sleek grey biplane with a wooden propeller and tail. It left behind clouds of billowing black smoke and a whiff of gunpowder.