'It's Groundhog Day': Ukraine's sky defenders stuck in relentless battle

As the evening airy ebbed distant a fistful of Ukrainian troops emerged from the treeline to look an unequal fight. Their ngo – to sprout down 21st Century slayer drones with weapons designed successful the dying days of World War One.

In Ukraine's north-eastern portion of Sumy, bordering Russia, this is simply a nightly battle.

Just aft we joined the troops, determination was information successful the skies, and hostility and adrenaline connected the ground.

The commandant – codenamed Jaeger – was glued to a surface showing clusters of reddish dots, each indicating an Iranian-designed Shahed drone, 1 of Russia's cardinal weapons. By aboriginal evening, determination were already 30 successful the skies implicit Sumy, and the neighbouring portion of Chernihiv.

Two flatbed trucks were driven retired into a clearing – connected the backmost of each a dense instrumentality weapon and a gunner, scanning the skies. The trucks were flanked by troops, airy instrumentality guns astatine the ready.

We could perceive the whirring of the propellers earlier we could spot the drone - hardly disposable arsenic it sliced done the sky. The troops opened occurrence - each guns blazing successful unison – but the drone disappeared into the distance. These low-cost long-range weapons are terrorising Ukraine.

As often successful war, determination were flashes of humour. "You'll cognize erstwhile the adjacent drone is coming, erstwhile that abbreviated feline gets nervous," said Jaeger, pointing astatine 1 of his team.

As acheronian closed in, the drones kept coming and the troops kept trying – sending tracer occurrence streaking crossed the sky. But however bash they consciousness erstwhile these termination drones get through?

"Well, it's not precise good, "Jaeger says sombrely, glancing away. "You consciousness a flimsy sadness but to beryllium honorable - arsenic you person seen - you don't person clip for emotions. One comes successful and different tin travel close down it. You enactment successful this rhythm. If it's taken down - good, if not, you cognize determination are different teams down you who volition besides prosecute it."

He and his men are a "mobile occurrence unit" from Ukraine's 117 Territorial Defence Brigade – each locals trying to support not conscionable their hometown but their country. Most Russian drones alert done this portion and deeper into Ukraine.

"They travel successful monolithic waves, often flying astatine antithetic altitudes," says Jaeger. "When determination is dense unreality cover, they alert supra the clouds, and we can't spot them. And it's precise hard to observe them erstwhile it's raining."

A 100 Shahed drones a nighttime is modular for Sumy.

His portion includes a husbandman ("now I bash thing other successful the fields," helium jokes) and a builder. Jaeger himself is simply a erstwhile wood ranger, and mixed martial arts fighter.

Now helium fights an force helium tin hardly see.

"It's the aforesaid happening each azygous day, implicit and implicit again," helium says. "For us, it's conscionable similar Groundhog Day."

"The worst happening is that years are passing by," adds Kurban, the builder, "and we person nary thought however agelong each this is going to last".

Many of the drones successful the skies implicit Sumy that nighttime were headed for the capital, Kyiv. Jaeger and his men knew it. So did we. The cognition was chilling.

An aerial raid alert warned the residents of Kyiv of incoming drones. Russia aimed much than 300 astatine the superior overnight, according to the Ukrainian aerial force, trying to overwhelm its aerial defences. By greeting six locations had been hit, and the victims were being reclaimed from the rubble. In the days that followed the decease toll climbed to 30.

In Ukraine's 4th summertime of full-scale warfare the fields astir Sumy are dotted with maize and sunflowers, not yet successful bloom, and a harvest of dragon's teeth - triangles of factual which tin halt tanks successful their tracks.

The representation was precise antithetic past autumn. Ukrainian troops had turned the tables with a cross-border onslaught connected Russia, capturing territory successful the neighbouring portion of Kursk.

By March of this year, astir were forced out, though Ukraine's subject main said precocious it inactive holds immoderate territory there. By May, President Zelensky warned that 50,000 Russian troops were massed "in the absorption of Sumy".

By June, much than 200 villages and settlements successful Sumy had been evacuated, arsenic the Kremlin's men dilatory shelled their mode forward.

President Putin wants "a buffer zone" on the border, and is talking up the menace to the metropolis of Sumy.

"The city…is next, the determination centre," helium said recently. "We don't person a task to instrumentality Sumy, but I don't regularisation it out." He claims his forces are already up to 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) wrong the region.

The caput of Ukraine's army, Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, claims his troops person halted the Russian advance, but the warfare has already closed successful connected Margaryta Husakova, 37, menacing her village. She warned her sister not to travel due to the fact that determination were explosions.

"She came anyway," Margaryta says, "and everything was good for a month, quiescent and peaceful, until we got connected that bus".

On the greeting of 17 May, the sisters acceptable retired with different relatives for a travel to the city.

"I retrieve however we came, got connected the bus, however we laughed, were happy," says Margaryta. "Then we started to leave, and it happened."

The autobus was ripped isolated by a Russian drone, successful an onslaught that killed 9 radical – each civilians - including her mother, her uncle and her sister.

Margaryta was pulled from the wreckage with a shattered close limb – present held unneurotic by alloy rods.

She is tormented by what she lost, and what she saw. Her statement is graphic.

"I opened my eyes, and determination was nary bus," she said, her dependable opening to break. "I looked astir and my sister's caput was torn off. My mum too, she was lying there, deed successful the temple. My uncle had fallen retired of the bus, his encephalon was exposed."

We met astatine a sand-bagged reception centre for evacuees successful Sumy. Margaryta sat extracurricular connected a woody bench, seeking comfortableness from a cigarette. She told maine she was readying to permission for the location of different relative, but feared her 8 children mightiness not beryllium harmless determination either.

"Maybe we volition person to tally distant adjacent further," she said, adding: "It's scary everywhere."

"I'm terrified, not for myself but for the children. I indispensable prevention them. That's what matters."

As we spoke an aerial raid siren wailed overhead – the dependable truthful acquainted that Margaryta did not respond. Neither did anyone other astir us. "We lone tally for explosions now," a Ukrainian writer explained "and lone if they are large and close".

There's small speech successful Sumy of a ceasefire, fto unsocial an extremity to Europe's largest warfare since 1945.

US President Donald Trump nary longer claims helium tin present bid successful Ukraine successful a day. He's go embroiled successful a newer war, bombing Iranian atomic sites.

Talks betwixt Russia and Ukraine person delivered lone captive exchanges, and the instrumentality of bodies. President Putin appears emboldened and has been upping his demands.

With the Summer prima inactive overhead, those trying to prevention Ukraine expect much Winters of war. We followed a bumpy way heavy into a wood to conscionable troops caller from the beforehand lines. They were getting a refresher people successful weapons skills astatine a distant grooming ground. A battle-hardened 35-year-old with a shaved caput and afloat beard was among the radical - telephone motion "student".

"I deliberation the warfare won't extremity successful the adjacent twelvemonth oregon two," helium told me. "And adjacent if it does extremity successful six months with immoderate benignant of ceasefire, it volition commencement again successful 4 oregon 5 years. President Putin has imperialist ambitions."

War inflicts wounds – seen and unseen.

"Student" sent his household overseas for information soon aft Russia's full-scale penetration successful February 2022 and has been incapable to spot his 2 daughters since then.

He and his woman are present divorced. Other soldiers we met besides spoke of breached relationships and marriages that person buckled nether the strain.

Student sums up warfare arsenic "blood, ungraded and sweat" and does not effort to conceal the cost. "We joined our battalion, arsenic a platoon of 30 neighbours," helium told me.

"Today, lone 4 of america stay alive. "