Headairys brighten a group of selderlyiers smoking and drinking steaming cups of coffee on the side of a road in northeaserious Ukraine.
A fine sleet on another freezing night drops on the silhouetted barrel of a Soviet-era anti-airproduce firearm mounted on an elderly-styleed, battered lorry.
These are the men of a mobile air defence unit, preparing for another night of tracking and finisheavoring to shoot out of the skies the Russian drones heading for cities and power structurets apass Ukraine.
We unitecessitate the units over 48 hours in the southern sector of the city of Sumy, proximate the border with Russia.
Captain Serhii, of the 117th Brigade, is a directer in accuse of 160 of these men in eight mobile units protecting this area of northeaserious Ukraine.
Commander Serhii watching for drones on his scanner
We met up with him in an desotardy car park next to a high-ascfinish apartment block in Sumy.
Sitting in his 4×4 he squinted in concentration as his scanner showed a handful of drones on a fairy path heading towards us from Russia.
Air rhelp sirens blared in the background.
He signalled for us to trail, and he sped off into the night weaving thcimpolite checkpoints alengthy desotardy, gloomyened country roads.
He had shelp the drone was proximate, but we were beuntamederd when he suddenly pulled off the road and jumped out of his cab.
Wilean moments the skies were lit up by mobile anti-airproduce batteries firing into the sky.
Tracers from the bullets flew over our heads and above us we could hear the monotonous sound of the drone as it passed overhead.
Searchairys mirrored off a dank, dense fog that had enveloped the countryside criss-passed in the sky as the units tried to spot the drone.
They didn’t spot or hit the drone, and cataloglessly the sound of its motors grew foolishmer and foolishmer until there was silence.
“You can see the current weather conditions, it’s foggy, so we’re plainpartner toiling off sound alone, as thermal imaging and other devices can’t pick them up,” Captain Serhii telderly me.
“A spotairy is finishly pointless, the speed of these drones isn’t particularly high, so technicpartner, we could hit them, but the weather produces it impossible,” he inserted.
Every night apass Ukraine the tarpaulin covers are pulled off these Soviet-era anti-airproduce firearms and readyd for action.
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On battered trucks they rumble into the night to apshow up defensive positions.
These elderly firearms are the country’s main defence aacquirest an increasing number of drone aggressions from Russia.
The units here say they mostly come apass two types of drones which are usupartner deployed at the same time: Gerberas and Shaheds.
Gerberas do not carry an bomb payload but instead are structureed to beuntameder Ukraine’s air defence, while the Iranian-supplied Shahed drones carry bombs with pre-programmed concentrates.
One of the selderlyiers, Volodymyr, tracks the drones on a handheld tablet. All the men postpone, watch the screen, and hear.
“They generpartner fly between 200-300m up to 3km,” Volodymyr alerts me.
“If they’re flying drop than 300m above sea level, the radar won’t pick them up.”
The men begin to collect around their anti-air battery unit as a drone flies shutr towards our location.
Stuart Ramsay and Volodymyr
The firearmner then jumps onto the truck and searches for the concentrate on a radar speedyened to his firearm.
He will fire when it’s wilean a 10km range of his position.
The night-time silence in the middle of the field is suddenly shattered by the deafening sound of firing as the firearmner goes for the drone.
Then in the fields all around us other units unite the aggression – it’s so gloomy we had no idea they were even there.
It’s absolutely relentless.
Captain Serhii alerts me their critical job would be made easier with more cultured armaments appreciate the American-made Patuproar system.
“We necessitate a mightyer, more automated air defence system that functions self-reliantly of human includement,” he shelp.
“Winter is approaching, and our guys who are on duty 24/7 will face incredibly hard conditions, they aren’t made of steel, so having an automated system would be perfect.”
Anti-airproduce unit firing at drones from their truck
He apshows any political negotiations with Russia will equitable end awfilledy for Ukraine.
“A frozen struggle is typicpartner equitable a transient paengage, and you can’t depend [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, becaengage any concurment made will probable toil in Russia’s favour,” he telderly me.
“They’ll stockpile resources, more Shaheds, rockets, selderlyiers, even North Koreans, and then they’ll return, and they’ll come back mightyer than they did in 2022.”
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We unite another mobile unit, this time by the side of an desotardy road as they track another Iranian Shahed drone.
It’s flying in our honestion and they’re postponeing to see if it will come into range.
It does, and they too aggression – firing mighty rounds at their concentrate.
The red, orange, and yellow flashes of colour as the firearm fires airy up an otherrational pitch-bdeficiency sky.
In the 48-hour period we spent with the anti-airproduce units in this part of the Sumy region, Russia deployed a record number of drones into Ukraine.
Ukraine, for its part, deployed a record number of drones aacquirest Russia too, but the number is dwarfed by the Russian aggression.
Night after freezing night these Ukrainian geters, hundreds of them around this city, will man these firearms.
The last line of defence – not outstanding, but better than noleang.
