How Ukrainians targeted Russian artillery in Kherson with drones

A Ukrainian soldier holds a Leleka-100 drone about to be launched as he carefully walks through a field studded with Russian landmines in Ukraine's Kherson region on Thursday.
A Ukrainian soldier holds a Leleka-100 drone about to be launched as he carefully walks through a field studded with Russian landmines in Ukraine’s Kherson region on Thursday. (Heidi Levine of The Washington Post)

KHERSON REGION, Ukraine — Two Ukrainian soldiers made the discovery while staring wide-eyed at a laptop screen in the trunk of an SUV. They sit on a makeshift bench, the large plastic casing of their drone. They were looking about 25 miles away, deep into Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory.

This is a Russian artillery battery located in a small patch of woods. Leonid Slobodian, the drone operator who started counting out loud, zoomed in and took a screenshot of the findings. He saw at least five guns, trucks that likely contained ammunition and anti-battery radars. This is what the Ukrainian military calls “obesity” targets.

Beside him, Oleksandr Kapli sent a voice message to members of the 128th Mountain Commando Brigade who were also watching the drone camera live.

“We need to smash this front to back,” Cappelli said on his phone.

Then an expletive-filled response: “Send all the footage and we’ll [mess] stand up. “

Drone video obtained by The Washington Post shows Russian troops being attacked by Ukrainian artillery on October 2. June 6, 2022. (Video: Courtesy of the “Falcon” unit of the Kryvyi Rih Territorial Defense Force)

Russian troops in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine are trying to hold the front near the town of Dučany after a strategic retreat along the west bank of the Dnieper River. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops are trying to retake more positions ahead of reinforcements from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Kryvyi Rih Territorial Defense Force’s “Falcon” unit on Thursday gave Washington Post reporters a rare glimpse of the day’s fighting here through footage of their Ukrainian-made Leleka-100 drone, which looks like a Small gray airplane. Moscow has more weapons than Kyiv, so hitting “fat” targets – armored vehicles, ammunition reserves and artillery – as Falcon forces determined on Thursday, Ukraine could weaken the enemy and advance.

In the Kherson region, with flat terrain and open fields, hiding this equipment from reconnaissance drones has been a challenge for both parties – a challenge that will only increase as the foliage falls and winters approach.

Falcon troops were able to see through the trees on Thursday. It found the Russian battery, helped Ukraine’s own artillery target it, and watched parts of it get destroyed.

“Our task is to determine how much reserves are coming in, how strong these Russian fortifications are now, and to track all the military equipment,” Cappelli said. “Then we communicate all of this to the artillery units, and they’ll shell everything possible.”

Russian troops are now massing near the town of Milov to defend their stronghold across the river in the occupied town of Novikahovka, Cappelli said. There, Moscow seized a hydroelectric power plant that controlled a vital water supply in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

The battery found by the Falcons was located near the neighbouring village of Cervonial. A second drone flight confirmed that the equipment was still in place, and Slobodian passed on more screenshots of the site, reading out its coordinates.

Before the full Russian invasion, he, Cappelli, and most of the rest of their troops had no combat experience. Slobodian and Gary Wagner, who operated the drones with him, were photographers for Ukrainian TV channels before the war.

After collecting donations, Falcon commander Oleh Lyadenko purchased the Leleka drone in April, which can fly about 25 miles and stay in the air for two hours before needing a battery change. At times, the 128th Brigade asked the Falcons to check certain locations, or follow the Russian tank columns to see where they were going. Other times, drone operators make their own discoveries.

Russia’s recent retreat has allowed the unit to advance to recently liberated villages and fly over territory previously beyond the reach of its cameras.

On Thursday, they fired their drones from trench lines the Russians had used until this week. As the drones flew, some soldiers walked cautiously around nearby fields, firing at unexploded mines.

During one of Leleka’s flights, they noticed on the screen a second, longer trench line nearby. The two soldiers went to explore and brought back souvenirs – baseball caps with the Russian flag and “Z,” a symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The retreating Russians left behind crates of pear juice, which the unit had been drinking with a smile.

With the help of the Starlink satellite internet system, they work from 8 am to sunset. At around 2:45 pm, they launched the drone for the penultimate flight of the day. Within minutes, it found smoke on the horizon, and they spotted enemy batteries from the 128th Brigade nearby.

But as it got closer, Slobodian realized it was an adjacent tree line. The Russians had also tried to hide their equipment there, but another reconnaissance drone spotted it. Ideally, Kapli said, it should work like this — one drone follows the other, so coverage is never lost and more targets can be marked. As long as something is burning, everyone in the unit is happy.

Falcon’s job now is to keep its cameras pointed at the area and confirm that the U.S.-supplied artillery hits accurately as the shells landed along the tree line. Soldiers crowded in front of computer screens, watching the explosions in real time and cheering.

“At least we have something to cheer about today,” Cappelli said in a voice note to comrades in the 128th Brigade.

“Barbecue,” Slobodian said blankly as another explosion flashed across the screen.

Then a strike hit a Russian Ural truck, creating a huge mushroom cloud at the scene. It’s loaded with ammo. The people watching the screen also exploded. Enemies can now attack with fewer shells – and fewer guns to shoot.

“It was a nuclear explosion,” Cappelli exclaimed with laughter. “We’ve been arguing for a while, but I haven’t seen an explosion like this.”

Slobodian rubbed his hands. The “fat” locations they find will be next. Smoke rose from the trees again. They suspect that at least one Russian 152mm gun was damaged. Their drone had run out of battery and needed to return, but the day was a success.

By Friday, they had turned to new targets, recording overhead video of Russian tanks burning next to another field.

Ukraine war: what you need to know

Newest: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Friday to annex four occupied parts of Ukraine after a referendum held widely denounced as illegal. Follow us here for live updates.

response: The Biden administration on Friday announced a new round of sanctions on Russia in response to the annexation, targeting government officials and families, Russian and Belarusian military officials and defense procurement networks. President Volodymyr Zelensky also said on Friday that Ukraine was applying for “accelerated accession” to NATO, in an apparent response to annexation.

In Russia: Putin announced a military mobilization on September 9. 21st to call up as many as 300,000 reservists to dramatically reverse his setback in the Ukraine war. The announcement led to the exodus of more than 180,000 people, mostly men serving in the military, and reignited protests and other anti-war behavior.

Fight: Ukraine launched a successful counteroffensive, forcing Russia to conduct a massive retreat in the northeastern region of Kharkiv in early September, as troops fled the cities and villages they had occupied since the early days of the war and abandoned vast quantities of military equipment.

photo: Photographers for The Washington Post have been on the ground since the war began — some of their most influential work.

How you can help: Here’s how Americans can support the people of Ukraine, and people around the world have been giving.

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