From a distance of about 3 miles (5km) the drone camera zoomed in on a group of Russian soldiers. Three of them got out of a vehicle, strolled over to a cottage, and disappeared inside. “We won’t hit them yet. It’s better to observe,” the drone’s Ukrainian operator – call-sign “Garry” – said. “Once we’ve destroyed them, we’ll move on to the next target.”
The screen in front of him offered a panoramic view of the war in southern Ukraine. There were green fields, pitted with holes from artillery strikes. A destroyed armoured vehicle sat on a road. The frontline village of Urozhaine, where the Russians had parked up, was a mazy ruin. A puff of grey smoke from a Ukrainian missile rose into an azure sky.
