The entrances and exits of Pokrovsk reflect the absurd reality faced by its inhabitants. The journey begins when night falls, taking advantage of the fact that the number of drones with night vision is still lower than those operating in the light of day. Despite this, the wait forces them to camouflage themselves under the forest. The vehicle arrives at 9:30 p.m. and its occupants quickly start unloading. "Quick, quick!".
The beeping of the drone detector increases the tension. "There's an FPV [a kamikaze device] heading this way! Scatter!". The alert triggers a general stampede. 24 hours earlier, one of the soldiers had advised the visitor: "If you see us running, run".
The directive is to find houses with open doors and take refuge inside, away from the vehicle, which is usually the target of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Uniformed personnel and informants flee in the midst of the absolute darkness that dominates the nights of Pokrovsk. The sound of footsteps on broken glass - a perennial sign in conflicts - and the explosions echoing nearby make up the chilling soundtrack of the harrowing experience.
After several minutes of uncertainty, another order: "Quick, to the car!". They must literally jump into the interior of the SUV, which starts in a frenzy and begins an even more irrational race among the skeletons of buildings. The soldier carrying the drone detector continues to anxiously watch the device. It keeps beeping. The driver changes direction with swerves that cause the four by four to skid. The UAV locator signal persists. The group leader slams on the brakes, hides the pick up under a tree, and everyone rushes to hide with the urgency of those fearing for their lives. Once again, they must hide inside an abandoned house. This time, the wait extends for more than 20 minutes. Finally, the dreaded sound of the gadget fades away.
The patrol resumes its journey. The route allows them to see how Ukrainians have resorted to ingenuity to try to minimize the risk. They have placed elevated nets over the road covering a limited part of the path, just at the entrance to the village. An insufficient effort. The reporter counts a dozen car wrecks that did not make it past this roulette. They remain strewn on the sides of the road. Some are simple masses of charred metal. There is another one upside down, with the tires facing the sky. Most of them are around the train tracks. "This is the most dangerous part," clarifies another uniformed person. Here, a van was stranded, with the hood crushed by the UAV attack.
Pokrovsk is just a memory of that town that served as a rear guard on the Donbass front in eastern Ukraine. Russian advances towards an enclave where more than 60,000 people used to live began last summer. Now, Moscow's troops are just over three kilometers from the urban center. The struggle for control of this enclave has become the most symbolic and bloody battle in recent months, as Bajmut or Avdiivka were before. Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War think tank predicted months ago that Moscow's objective is to encircle the population. "Pokrovsk turns into a hell", recently stated the local television program TSN.
The final destination of the SUV is an advanced position of drone operators from the 68th Hunter Brigade. In an underground floor of a multi-story building, the trio composed of Lyopa (only their first name), 29 years old; Max, 32; and Kazhan, the same age, have set up their makeshift facilities: a mix of mattresses, batteries, and unmanned devices, stacked in cardboard boxes like pizzas, which are opened as they are used. Three of these gadgets hang on one of the walls. There are almost a dozen more ready for use on the stairs.
Unlike Bajmut or Avdiivka, Pokrovsk is the first major war confrontation dominated by UAVs, especially by the new devices that use fiber optics, which has increased their deadly effectiveness. The Russians were the first to introduce this innovation at the end of last year, but the Ukrainians copied it a few months later.
"We started using it in Pokrovsk in February, and they did in November last year," says Lyopa.
The young man, who serves as the trio's leader, is an expert at assembling the devices. It doesn't take him more than 15 minutes. It's like a kind of Lego. With a small wrench, Lyopa attaches the blades to the structure, attaches the fiber optic coil, and finally crowns the device with a plastic container made by a 3D printer, filled with shrapnel and explosives.
"Look at the emblem they engraved on the explosive", points out Lyopa, indicating a drawing of a penis printed on the device.
It's 11:15 p.m., and the drone unit's target is a Russian rival group located on the front line. Pokrovsk witnesses a unique duel between drone pilots, reminiscent of the past battles between snipers. A reflection of the historical shift taking place on the battlefield, where robots - and those who guide them - are gaining more significant prominence every day over conventional weapons.
The Russians are also aware of this, and according to Ukrainian soldiers, they have sent the same elite unit that was decisive in Moscow regaining control of the Kursk region to this location. "They are called 'Judgment Day' and are the ones destroying so many cars in recent weeks", explains Lyopa.
The presence of these expert pilots in Pokrovsk has been confirmed by other representatives of the Ukrainian army, emphasizing the enormous significance of their deployment on this front line. "When this highly effective unit appears in a location, it indicates that position is becoming a strategic target for the enemy," noted Commander Vitaliy Lytvyn in a recent interview with the Ukrainian publication Pravda.
For units like Lyopa's, the most coveted objective is precisely to strike the shelter of one of the opposing teams. Their enemies think the same. A week ago, after being located, a plane dropped three 500-kilogram bombs - the terrifying CABs - on the five-story building where they were hiding. They were lucky. The explosives destroyed the adjacent building. The soldiers show a video of the results of the attack, which allows one to imagine the pile of rubble that would have buried their position if the devices had moved a few meters. The incident forced them to find a new hiding place, the one they currently occupy.
Lyopa and Kazhan briefly leave the building to set up the UAV and extend the fiber cable connected to the controller operated by Max. The expert launches the device, which rises between the apartment towers and the trees. In a matter of minutes, it crosses the confrontation line. It passes over trenches, dragon's teeth lines, anti-tank ditches, and a plain pockmarked by dozens of holes reminiscent of the lunar surface. "Pokrovsk looks like a Swiss cheese", jokes Max.
It looks like scenes from a video game. But here, death is real. The camera captures the final moments of the operation: the device approaches a forested area where, slowly, a perfectly camouflaged bunker appears. The transmission is interrupted when the UAV crashes inside and explodes.
The euphoria over the successful attack dissipates when they receive the latest news from their colleagues. The supply car following the one that transported the journalists was hit by a grenade launched by a Russian drone. Fortunately, it will later be known that there were no injuries.
For hours, this is the same routine. Kazhan brings out box after box. Lyopa assembles the drones, and Max pilots them. The night does not interrupt the actions. They only need to change the camera and install a night vision one. The group only ends the attacks well into the early morning. A few hours of sleep and back to start again.