Ukrainian drone enthusiasts enlist to repel Russian forces

Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) – In better times, Ukrainian drone enthusiasts took to the skies to photograph weddings, fertilize soybean fields or race other drones for fun. Now some are risking their lives by forming a volunteer drone force to help their country repel the Russian invasion.

“Kyiv needs you and your drone in this moment of anger!” read a Facebook post from the Ukrainian military late last week, urging citizens to donate hobbyist drones and volunteer to operate them as experienced pilots.

An entrepreneur who runs a retail store selling consumer drones in the capital said his entire inventory of around 300 drones made by Chinese company DJI was distributed for the purpose. Others are working to get more drones across the border from friends and colleagues in Poland and elsewhere in Europe.

“Why are we doing this? We have no choice. This is our country, our home,” said Denys Sushko, operations manager of Kyiv-based industrial drone technology company DroneUA, which helped provide drone services to farmers and energy companies before the war.

Sushko fled his home late last week after his family had to take shelter from an explosion nearby. He spoke to The Associated Press by phone and text message on Friday after climbing a tree for better reception.

DJI spokesman Adam Lisberg said wartime use “was never expected” when the company founded AeroScope to give law enforcement and aviation agencies — including customers in Russia and Ukraine — a window to detect drones flying in their fly in the immediate airspace. He said some users in Ukraine reported technical issues, but DJI hasn’t disabled the tool or given preferential access.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone experts said they were doing everything in their power to teach operators how to protect their whereabouts.

“There are a number of tricks you can use to increase the level of security when using it,” Sushko said.

Sushko said many in the industry are now trying to ship more small drones – including DJI alternatives – from neighboring European countries to Ukraine. They can also be used to support search and rescue operations.

Ukraine has a thriving community of drone experts, some of whom trained at the National Aviation University or the nearby Kyiv Polytechnic University and later founded local drone and robotics startups.

“You have this homegrown industry and all these smart people building drones,” said Faine Greenwood, a US-based consultant on drones for civilian uses like disaster relief.

Troiak’s DJI store in Kyiv, which is now closed because city residents are sheltering, has been a hub for that community as it operates a maintenance center and hosts training and a hobby club. Even the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, once visited the store to buy a drone for one of his children, Troiak said.

A public drone-focused Facebook group managed by Troiak has more than 15,000 members who have shared tips on helping Ukrainian troops. A drone photographer affiliated with Ukraine’s Drone Racing Team Association told The Associated Press he decided to donate his DJI Mavic drone to the military rather than try to fly it himself. He and others asked not to be named, fearing for their safety.

“The risk for civilian drone operators in Ukraine is still high,” said Australian drone safety expert Mike Monnik. “Locating the location of the operator could lead to a targeted missile attack given what we’ve seen in the fighting so far. It’s not rules of engagement like we had in previous conflicts.” In recent days, Russian-language channels of messaging app Telegram have featured discussions on how to find Ukrainian drones, Monnik said.

Some in Ukraine’s drone community already have experience using their expertise in conflict zones due to the country’s longstanding conflict with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Monnik’s company DroneSec has prosecuted several cases in the past year alone in which both sides of this conflict have armed small drones with explosives. One thing Ukrainians have learned is that small quadcopter drones like those sold in stores are rarely effective at hitting a target with explosive payloads.

“It would be a little short-sighted to waste one,” said Greenwood, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based consultant. “I suppose the main goal would be reconnaissance. But when things get desperate, who knows.”

DJI also has experience responding to war fighters attempting to arm its drones and has used “geofencing” technology to block drone movement during conflicts in Syria and Iraq. It is not yet clear whether this will also be the case in Ukraine; Even if this is the case, there are ways around it.

Small civilian drones are no match for Russian combat power, but are likely to become increasingly important in a protracted war, leaving drone manufacturers with no option to remain completely neutral. Any action they take or avoid is “indirectly taking sides,” said PW Singer, a New America fellow who has written a book on war robots.

“We’re going to see ad hoc armament of these small civilian drones, similar to what we’ve seen in conflicts around the world, from Syria to Iraq and Yemen to Afghanistan,” Singer said. “Just like an IED or a Molotov cocktail, they won’t change the course of the battle, but they will definitely give Russian soldiers a hard time.”