Inside Ukraine’s drone-led counteroffensive (video)

03/27/2026

As winter ends, fighting on Ukraine’s southern front is intensifying, and drones are leading the battle. The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell and Nick Allard spent a day with a heavy bomber team from Ukraine’s 423rd Separate Drone Battalion, known as the “Scythian Griffins,” operating in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. With both sides preparing for a larger spring and summer campaign, the battle for Ukraine’s south is entering a new phase. From preparing bunker-busting munitions to tracking targets and navigating intense electronic warfare, this report shows how Ukrainian drone crews locate and strike Russian positions — and how modern warfare is increasingly fought from the air.