Active Conflicts & News Megathread August 22, 2025

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[u/Well-Sourced]

Excellent interview with different members of the International Legion. Multiple examples of how drones have changed warfare but a detailed understanding of the terrain you are operating in and now above still being extremely important knowledge.

Detect and Destroy: Ukrainian and Foreign Volunteers Fight Side by Side Against Russian Forces | Defense Express

Amid hundreds of hectares of forests and fields in frontline Kharkiv region, under constant strikes from glide bombs, drones, and heavy artillery, the enemy continues its daily attempts to push forward. Between the russian occupiers and peaceful cities stand the soldiers of our Armed Forces. Here, alongside brothers-in-arms of the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade named after the famous Cossack leader Ivan Sirko, Ukrainian and foreign volunteers from the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine hold the line.

In the gray zone, which at times stretches up to 40 kilometers wide, it is not enough simply to watch your sector, because the occupiers can appear from anywhere. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle unit operates within the reach of countless Russian weapons systems, fully aware that once the launch site is detected, the enemy will spare no bombs or shells, let alone a symmetrical response. Many have endured brutal infantry battles; most returned to duty after being wounded. They know well what "eyes" mean for the infantry — how vital it is to deliver information in time, and how precious it is to strike and eliminate a threat on their own. Clear, precise, systematic — without unnecessary emotions, seeing the task through despite the ever-present risk of death.

Due to his specialty, the legionnaire with the call sign Frodo leads a rather isolated lifestyle. He does not often meet his brothers-in-arms from other units. But he understands the responsibility of his work well, so he gives his all: "Today you understand the importance of seeing from above. The infantry feels a bit more secure knowing someone is watching over them. There are risks with logistics, difficulties during flights. Sometimes the brain is exhausted, and you spend energy just to focus your gaze. Being on different positions, the terrain always differs from the drone’s perspective. This affects the radio horizon. Sometimes you have to improvise: fly blind, try ways to cross or turn until you find stability in flight."

Dom is an officer of the 3rd International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine. He commands the UAV unit and has led the team for nearly a year. Together with Sergeant Andrii, callsign Borsuk (Badger), the legionnaires show us the position of the drone pilots. With the start of the full-scale invasion, he returned to his 93rd Mechanized Brigade, with which he fought across almost all of Kharkiv region: defending Kharkiv, Izium, Soledar, Bakhmut. After his second wounding, Dom once again came back to service — this time in the Legion.

"Foreigners are a special case," the commander shares. "They perceive words, thoughts, and events through their own experience and worldview. You have to understand that. When you can have 10–15 different countries and continents represented in one unit, bringing it all into a single system so people work as one organism is a challenging task. Many of them have served in their home countries, in other armies. We can learn from them. Their combat organization experience is valuable. Is it absolutely relevant? No. Because most of the world lags behind us in understanding modern warfare."

Sergeant Borsuk has not been wearing a pixel uniform for long, but his extreme driving on dangerous frontline roads clearly shows that this is not a new activity for the legionnaire. "Andrii, before joining the army, helped us as a volunteer for years," Dom explains. "Sometimes he delivered cargo to places many military units couldn't always reach."

The men’s pickup truck looks like a monster built for off-road rallies. The first kilometers already show the expensive modifications were made not for show. The soldiers don't hide it: even this suspension struggles under frontline realities, demanding constant care and costly repairs. But here, such things are a matter of life and death.

"The specifics of driving in today's frontline zone rely a lot on hearing and on knowing the terrain," Andrii explains. "As one Israeli general once said, the gray zone today can stretch almost 40 kilometers — 20 on our side, 20 on theirs. Weapons are so cheap and precise that this grayness is much deeper than before. And you must account for that while moving on frontline roads. You need to understand the terrain, the enemy's methods, and know where to speed up, where to hide behind folds of land, and where you can move relatively calmly."

Although the work of UAV operators is considered less dangerous than that of infantry, this is all very relative. Every departure from position, and return to it, is a complex logistical operation. Rounds chambered, movement by the rules, everyone alert. At times you must brace yourself not to get injured even inside the vehicle, when Borsuk makes a sharp but necessary maneuver in places that must be passed "as if you’d never been there." Explosions at different distances remind you that this forest is full of predators whose strikes are lethal. Against the general backdrop, kilograms of explosives in the truck bed do not add to the tension of the situation.

Bugs from Ireland has been in the Legion since July last year. He completed his master's degree and planned to start doctoral studies, but eventually decided to join Ukraine's Armed Forces: "I served in the French Foreign Legion as infantry. I figured I could use these skills in battle."

His callsign, taken from the famous cartoon rabbit, conceals a deep mind and formidable character. In Ukraine, Bugs has carried out six missions as infantry, was twice wounded by enemy drones, but doesn’t consider what he’s done extraordinary: "We were just sitting on positions. But, you know, people take it as normal because the front line is so stretched. Look at the gray zone: because of drones, in some places it's up to 40 kilometers wide. You try to hold this line, and without infantry up front you can't maintain all this — with generators, Starlink, everything. It was good. I liked it. But it was hard too."

He notes that the nature of the war has changed both infantry and drone work. It's no longer enough to just watch one sector. UAV operators must now scan much wider areas. When they detect the enemy, they engage. If they can't, they pass the information to infantry for destruction.