Inside this old parachute plane, a crew of Ukrainian volunteers hunts down Russian drones. Russia sends thousands of unilateral attack drones to Ukraine every month. Many are shot down, but the country’s air defenses are unable to intercept them all. On the side of the fuselage here, they mounted this American-made machine gun capable of firing 3,000 rounds per minute or 50 rounds per second. And they take the drones one by one. It takes about $500 worth of ammunition to kill a drone — a bargain, given that Iranian-made Shahed drones are mass-produced for tens of thousands each, and that surface-to-air missiles can number in the millions to counter them. It is a cost-effective way to deal with the new threats of modern warfare. “And it came out of here. So somebody’s sitting here.” “Yes.” “And that’s where the shard came from.” For nine months, Valerie Slipkan has been living on this remote airstrip, waiting for missions. After losing his son in the early days of the full-scale invasion, he moved into a trailer on the landing field and began converting this old parachute plane for war. As of mid-2025, Ukraine has allowed and even encouraged demobilized civilians to fight drones. Valerie is the only one in the crew with combat experience. Although they are all volunteers, they receive their orders from the air defense coordinators of Ukraine. Long waits for missions in a safe house near the airfield strengthened their bond as a team. Drones are not only the deadliest weapon in Ukraine, they are redefining modern warfare. This year, Iran sent drones to the Middle East in response to attacks by Israel and the United States. Once considered a safe haven, the glitzy cities of the gulf suddenly awoke to the threat of cheap but effective drones. Now, states are turning to Ukraine for experimentation — from helicopters to armed helicopter units, its must-have anti-drone arsenal is one of the most effective in the world. “So these record all the drones you shoot down?” “Yes, we actually have that comma too. So you can tell how much we work for each flight. Valerie’s co-pilot is a world aerobatic champion who once made millions doing seemingly impossible stunts. Timur now flies this AN-28, which was used as a civilian parachute jump plane from the Soviet era before the invasion of Russia. “Gatekeepers. Their drone kill count is still a drop in the bucket against the tens of thousands launched by Russia. However, Timur sees this experimental unit as a blueprint that Ukraine can scale up. He’s building his own fleet of unmanned fighter jets to prove that it still takes the human touch to kill machines. As a father of five, he is exempt from the service. But he sold his business and poured the money he earned into the project. “You said it was important that you hit these things in uninhabited areas.” “This is the law for us. Sometimes we have to accompany him for five to seven minutes. He flies over a populated area, and then we can shoot him down.” “If you pointed your gun at a person, would you do it?” “Well, I’d definitely rather kill a car.” It’s 1 a.m. The team receives a warning. Unmanned aerial vehicles have been put into use in Ukraine. They rush to the runway and prepare the plane for takeoff. Then they tell them to stop. “And then there’s either an order to take off and execute the mission, or we have a command standby position.” So some nights it can be like that. Anything seen on radar can be lost. Or they say to stop, stop again and again. They should do it. They are on call 24/7. “I keep reminding myself that it’s good – we’re not flying, that means there’s no mass attacks. It’s exhausting, but it’s part of the job.”
