A look inside Ukraine’s terrifying vampire drone unit – sparks fear among Russian troops who liken them to a child-eating witch
ON the front line, a desperate shortage of shells is forcing Ukraine’s big guns to silence.
But overhead, armed with improvised bombs, buzzes an airborne force that terrifies the enemy Vampire drones.
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Russian troops are so afraid of them that they call them Baba Yaga, a child-eating witch from fairy tales.
They are an essential part of modern warfare, fought at a distance, like a video game, and filling in the gaps Ukraine’s firepower on the 600 mile front line.
Cheap, deadly and easy to use, drones have allowed both sides to destroy targets behind the front lines at a fraction of the cost of air-launched bombs and guided missiles.
Ukraine has promised one million UAVThis year in recognition of their war-winning role.
The sun joined the drone bombers lightning-fast Russian trenchesclambering in the dark in a convoy of 4x4s to the launch site on Ukraine’s northeastern front.
Drivers navigated icy roads without headlights, relying instead on the light of the moon to avoid attracting attention.
The destination was an abandoned farm.
Within minutes of arriving, a well-rehearsed team transformed it into a temporary airport, installing a six-metre antenna and establishing high-speed communications via a Starlink satellite internet terminal.
Team leader Artem, 40, placed the vampire’s controls in a basement that became his command bunker.
His comrades, Maksim, 31, and Andrii, 36, assembled the bombs in the farmhouse, using gaffer tape, glue and cable ties to secure the parts together.
In the fields outside they worked by red torchlight to remain hidden from Russian spotters.
Maksim, a former miner, loaded the assembled bombs on a vampire base, then slowly installed the firing pins and removed the sugar cube-sized safety blocks that prevent them from prematurely firing.
Within 40 minutes of arrival their Vampire drone was armed and buzzed over frozen forests towards Russian positions in Kupiansk.
Moscow’s troops have been trying to recapture the district for months after a lightning attack forced them to withdraw 18 months ago.
They advanced a kilometer in winter and paid a high price in soldiers’ lives – up to seven times the losses among the defenders.
But the shortage of heavy artillery shells has made it harder to slow the advance Vladimir Putin‘s powers.
Lt Ivan, 43, a former magazine editor, said drones like the Vampire were crucial. “We are rationing our artillery so we can’t kill as many Russians.
It’s like a computer game, but without extra lives and you can’t save the game
Andrii, former air conditioning engineer
“We cannot hold so many positions,” he added.
“But fortunately the drone teams have really learned how to close the gaps on the front line.”
The Vampires are made in Ukraine, cost less than a used car and are financed by The Ukrainian Army of Drones Initiative.
The bombs they drop are a mixture of anti-tank grenades and 3D-printed mortars packed with shrapnel and explosives.
And the six-engine vampires, about the size of a coffee table, make an average of 50 flights with up to four bombs per flight before breaking up or being destroyed.
Artem, a shopkeeper before the war, said they only flew their plane at night to avoid it being shot down.
We watched as their vampire reached his first target: a well-built dugout in the forest, covered with logs and dirt.
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Live footage from the thermal camera showed the bombs falling one by one, bursting into a blaze of white light on the screens in the bunker in sight.
Their second target was a Russian mortar position, but as the vampire reached the target the camera feed suddenly failed.
Artem dropped the bombs on the target, but only saw one explode in a heavily pixelated image.
Andrii, a former air conditioning engineer, said: “It’s like a computer game, but without extra lives and you can’t save the game.”
But Artem has no reservations about killing his enemies this way.
He said: “Especially when they kill our boys.
“We must get revenge.”
Cold War museum manuals repair tanks
A TANK museum in Dorset is helping to repair Cold War vehicles for the war against Russia.
Old manuals and diagrams were retrieved from the archives and passed on to a defense manufacturer.
It meant the company could make parts for Russian-made Ukrainian tanks from the 1960s and 1970s, to repair mine-damaged tracks.
David Willey, curator of the 300-vehicle museum in Bovington, said: “British defense companies are very keen to help, but in some cases the people are no longer there and knowledge has been lost.
“We looked for details such as the angles, pitch and tension required for the new tracks and our archive was able to provide them with old manuals and blueprints.
“We also found examples of the actual items needed, such as T-72 tracks and pins.
‘We have a duty to help Ukraine. If we don’t stand up to Putin, other countries will be next.”
William Cook, of Durham-based Cook Defense Systems, which built the parts, added: “There are Ukrainian soldiers on the front line whose lives depend on what we do.”
Weapons guru ‘hit’ by Kiev
By Will Stewart
RUSSIA has blamed Ukraine for an assassination attempt on one of Vladimir Putin’s top weapons designers.
A Molotov cocktail was thrown at the home of Valery Kashin, 76, in Kolomna, near Moscow.
But it did not ignite and no one was injured.
A 28-year-old man from Moscow, Roman Nerobelov, has been arrested on charges of attempted murder.
He told police he had received a phone call saying his £13,000 debts would be cleared if he threw the bomb.
Authorities say “scammers in Ukraine” are behind the attack.
Kashin designed anti-tank, anti-aircraft and high-precision missiles, including the Iskander-M.
Nerobelov faces a prison sentence of up to fifteen years.
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