In the village of Lyptsi, Ukrainian forces appear to have blunted Russia’s surprise offensive.
A few weeks ago, they were rapidly advancing towards Kharkiv. But with the help of reinforcements Ukraine is slowly stemming the tide.
The threat from the north though has not gone away. Lyptsi is still a target.
There’s the heavy thud of shells landing nearby as we drive at speed through its ruined and deserted streets with an elite Ukrainian unit.
Two of the team point shotguns out of the window. They scan the sky for kamikaze drones. They’ve become one of the most potent weapons of this war.
This Ukrainian unit are about to use them too. They call themselves the Peaky Blinders, after the cult TV series.
Oleksandr, their leader, says at the outbreak of the war they turned up to guard their streets with shotguns, wearing civilian clothing. He says it was like a scene from the hit show.
But they’re no longer a rag-tag team of volunteers. They’re now battle-hardened and have been trained by Western special forces. They’re now the high-tech Peaky Blinders, using cheap, mass-produced small drones.
Nevertheless, they’ve kept the name and wear flat caps in camouflage, with their motto embroidered on the back - “To Find and Destroy”.
A few weeks ago, they were rapidly advancing towards Kharkiv. But with the help of reinforcements Ukraine is slowly stemming the tide.
The threat from the north though has not gone away. Lyptsi is still a target.
There’s the heavy thud of shells landing nearby as we drive at speed through its ruined and deserted streets with an elite Ukrainian unit.
Two of the team point shotguns out of the window. They scan the sky for kamikaze drones. They’ve become one of the most potent weapons of this war.
This Ukrainian unit are about to use them too. They call themselves the Peaky Blinders, after the cult TV series.
Oleksandr, their leader, says at the outbreak of the war they turned up to guard their streets with shotguns, wearing civilian clothing. He says it was like a scene from the hit show.
But they’re no longer a rag-tag team of volunteers. They’re now battle-hardened and have been trained by Western special forces. They’re now the high-tech Peaky Blinders, using cheap, mass-produced small drones.
Nevertheless, they’ve kept the name and wear flat caps in camouflage, with their motto embroidered on the back - “To Find and Destroy”.
Over the past few weeks Oleksand has literally been fighting for his home.
He used to farm the fields nearby their dug-out – hidden in a tree line. Before the war, he grew strawberries here. But now he’s planting bombs.
Since the offensive began, the Peaky Blinders team say they have killed or injured more than 100 Russian soldiers.
They operate like a small air force with dozens of drones and an arsenal of bombs – ones to take out tanks, others to target groups of infantry or individual soldiers.
They either drop the bombs or use kamikaze drones which they fly directly into a target. They’re also known as First Person View, or FPV drones.
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