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»Leleka«, Ukrainian for »stork«, is a reconnaissance drone developed by Ukraine itself. Kiev relies heavily on unmanned aerial vehicles, which are essential in the fight against Putin's invading forces.
Nadja, soldier:
"Without eyes in the sky, the mission is difficult. All active units use drones. With it, they observe enemy vehicles or infantry lying in front of them. This saves lives. Either you go blindly and run into a trap. Or you can be steered from heaven."
Along enemy lines and behind them, the drone can detect moving or permanently installed targets, such as command posts. The footage reaches the ground crew in real time.
Serhii, Soldier:
"We forward the images to certain channels via the Internet. There, the artillery and the commanders view the footage and adjust the shelling."
The special challenge for the drone pilots is that they control their aircraft only with the help of a map and the camera. Navigation systems have proven to be unreliable in use. According to defense experts, reconnaissance drones are playing a steadily growing role in the Ukraine war - not least because of their range of up to 3000 kilometers.