Usually, drone enthusiasts in Ukraine will fly their devices for photography or other activities such as racing. But now, they are risking their lives as volunteers who use drones to spy on Russian soldiers.
“Kyiv needs you and your drones at this moment,” wrote a recent Facebook post from the Ukrainian military to Ukrainians who love drones and are experienced in operating them.
As in many countries, the popular drone there, for example, is DJI, made by a Chinese company. A businessman in Kyiv even distributed 300 DJI drones to spy on Russia. Others are trying to find additional drones by asking for help from Poland and other European countries.
"Why are we doing this? There is no other choice. This is our homeland, your home," said Denys Sushko, boss of Ukrainian drone company DroneUA.
"We're really using everything we can to help protect our country and drones are a great tool for getting real time data. Everyone is doing what they can," he said.
Of course, commercial drones like DJI are not combat drones like the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone for example. But the drones can be an effective spy tool, for example snooping on Russian convoys and distributing them to the Ukrainian army. Some drones are also equipped with night vision and heat sensors.
However, there are some drawbacks. For example, DJI drones provide tools that can determine the location of a drone, especially if the person operating it is inexperienced, and no one knows what DJI is doing with that data.
DJI did not specify whether their drones could be detected by the Russian side. A DJI spokesman said that they never expected the device to be used in a war situation.
"The risk to drone operators in Ukraine is huge. By pinpointing the operator's location it can lead to missile fire," said Australian drone security analyst Mike Monnik.