Inside Ukraine’s drone war: Thunder gods battle Russia’s grinding advance

It is late on Ukraine’s southeastern front. I am in a basement with a Ukrainian drone crew as they prep for another run. 

They are loading up a heavy quadcopter drone, built to deliver supplies to the front line or carry explosives to a target. 

This drone is called Perun, after the Slavic god of thunder. Once it is in the air, it heads out over the fields towards Russian positions. 

After flying less than 10 minutes, the Perun is in position. 

The pilot tries to stabilize it long enough to drop the explosives, but a strong wind complicates the process. The bomb finally drops and lands. Just meters from the target. 

Close, but a miss. 

I’m Guillaume Ptak, Ukraine correspondent for the Washington Times. You are watching exclusive footage from my recent trip with a Ukrainian drone team on the Southeastern Front. 

This team is part of Ukraine’s 423rd Unmanned Systems Battalion, one of the units built as Ukraine expanded drone warfare. 

Many of the men in this battalion have been transferred in from artillery and infantry. Now they’re running missions from a laptop screen. 

The crew tells me they handle three main types of missions. 

One is what they simply called deliveries, flying food, ammunition and equipment out to frontline position. 

The second is area denial, dropping explosive charges to mine key approaches and choke points. 

And the third is direct strikes, using different types of munitions to destroy targets directly. 

Some of the munitions they use are assembled right here, as the explosives and the detonators are shipped separately to avoid accidents. 

Some of the ordnance include bunkerbusters, designed to penetrate fortified positions.

This war has hardened into a high-intensity grind, driven by drones, glide bombs and relentless small-unit assaults. 

Units like Ukraine’s 423rd have become a key part of the country’s defense, trying to make up what they lack in manpower with a variety of drones and improvised explosives.

But the Russians have adapted, too. The men tell me they’re seeing fewer large armored assaults and more small squads moving on foot, sometimes on motorcycles, probing for gaps, trying to bypass defenses or reach the trench line. 

All along the front line, the pattern is the same. Constant probes, repeated assaults, and small advances measured in meters. 

Western intelligence estimates Russian casualties in the hundreds of thousands in 2025 alone for limited territorial gates. 

And while the fight here is about trenches and tree lines, the war is also hitting deeper inside Ukraine. 

In recent weeks, Russia has stepped up missile and drone strikes on civilian areas and energy infrastructure, attacks that knock out power, heating and water, as winter temperatures have dropped. 

On the diplomatic front, the latest round of U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi have yielded little besides a prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia. 157 men on each side have been liberated. 

It is the first such exchange since October of last year. 

After days in position, the team prepares to rotate out with another unit. 

They pack their belongings and gear quickly. Getting in and out of position is one of the riskier parts of the job. 

The men tell me that Russian FPV drones are constantly hunting for vehicles on the road. 

I rode out with the drone team in a truck, rifles out the windows watching the sky for FPV drones. 

As we reach the suburbs of Zaporizhzhia, we can hear the ominous buzz of a Shahed drone. 

One of the aircrafts slowly cuts across the blue sky, a reminder, if needed, that the war doesn’t stop at the front line.

Read more: Russia trades men for ground; Ukraine answers with deadly drones

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