#ukrainian-military

#ukrainian-military

Editor's note: This story features several interviewees who requested to be identified only by their first name or call sign for their safety. Every few weeks, Ukrainian bridal shop owner Ilia scrapes together a donation usually no more than $7. "If I had any doubts about how my money was being used, I wouldn't give it," said the grizzled 33-year-old, who is exempt from military service because he is blind in one eye.

"Russian aviation poses a threat not only to peaceful cities but also directly to the front line," Ukraine's 28th Mechanized Brigade explained in a post on the Telegram messaging app, adding that Russian planes, helicopters, and reconnaissance drones appear over infantry positions regularly.

On a fine day in early June, Ukrainian soldiers launched their latest killer robot. With a click on a screen, the unattractively named Gogol-M, a fixed-wing aerial drone with a 20-foot wingspan, took off from an undisclosed location and soared into a wide blue sky.