The latest weapons manufacturers: parents and kids
Troops turn to DIY drones as munitions wane
KYIV REGION, Ukraine — Before Russia invaded, Magdalyna, a florist, used a simple desk in her suburban home to assemble bouquets. Now it’s where she builds drones.
Bouquets are heavier but otherwise the two products are not so different, she said. Both “make other people happier.”
Magdalyna, 27, is among a growing number of Ukrainians who are building equipment for the military at home because they fear Russia is going to advance on the front lines and further destroy their country. Like several others in this article, The Washington Post is identifying Magdalyna only by first name due to security concerns.
Since last year, she has built 150 first-person view drones (commonly known as FPVs) and repaired hundreds of others, including Russian drones that Ukrainian troops collect after they crash on the front lines.
She has raised more than $200,000 to buy drone parts from China, largely raised through online donations, although she and her husband, an IT professional, have also spent some of their own money.
FPVs, civilian drones redesigned by Ukrainian soldiers to carry explosives, have transformed Ukraine’s battlefield and are widely deployed by each side. The drones, which are small enough to maneuver into trenches and take enemy troops by surprise, became more crucial in recent months as Ukraine ran out of artillery shells and other ammunition while waiting for Western support, including from the United States.
Operators launch the handheld devices from positions behind the front line, then, using goggles and a remote controller, fly into enemy territory and guide them into Russian targets, killing or wounding infantry and destroying equipment. Russia noticed the efficacy of FPVs and now mass produces them for its own troops.
Ukraine also has started making FPVs and other drones in factories — with a pledge to make 1 million this year — but many drones sent to Ukrainian troops are being made by people at home. The civilians do not handle any explosives, which are only attached after the drones are delivered to the front. One advantage to the crowdsourcing is that it is decentralized, with private homes less vulnerable to Russian missile attacks than a large-scale military factory.
Instead of complex assembly lines, volunteers are transforming their own spaces into makeshift workshops. Magdalyna calls her home office her “drone room.” FPVs are stacked next to other supplies she uses to build the drones, including a soldering iron, copper wire, pliers, acid, and zip ties soldiers use to attach their bombs.
A grass-roots group called SocialDrone is one of the local initiatives that has taught hundreds of volunteers how to make drones — sharing lists of components to be purchased online and written instructions of how to put them together. The group also published a detailed bird’s eye view YouTube video demonstrating the process, which has been viewed 400,000 times since November.
Once volunteers finish building their FPVs, they send them to the group, which vigorously tests the homemade drones before shipping them to the front. Drone-builders can request a device be sent to a specific soldier or unit, including their own friends or family.
“A DIY FPV drone for ~250 euros can do the job of a 1 shot Javelin for 70,000 euros,” the group’s website states.
Oleksii Asanov, an IT worker who cofounded SocialDrone, never intended to get involved in drone-making.
A volunteer since the first days of Russia’s 2022 invasion, Asanov also founded other projects to support soldiers at the front. One sends them drone launching systems and another trains soldiers as drone pilots in a 10-day intensive course.
After the first troops graduated from his school, they complained that they returned to the front with new skills but no drones. Given the intensity of fighting, troops often deploy on a mission with five or more FPVs, then use them as self-destructing weapons that fly into a target. This sort of one-time use means new drones are in constant demand.
Asanov said that for Ukraine to stand a chance in the war, it must keep up with this demand. “It seems for me that this war will be ended with FPV drones,” he said.
Yan, 13, came across the YouTube video on building drones. He grew up playing with Legos and other construction toys and thought building an FPV would not be so hard.
His parents helped him buy the parts, but prefer he does not work on building drones on school nights. So, on Saturdays and Sundays, he spends about five hours a day assembling them.
“I’m angry with the enemy but I’m also happy,” he said. “I’m interested in what I’m doing, it’s a new hobby.”
Each weekend, dozens of volunteers test drones in parks and fields around Kyiv.
On a recent Saturday, Kyrylo, 32, and Denys, 23, sorted through stacks of donated drones and tried flying them one at a time.
The two men are former soldiers who were wounded. Now they do quality control testing for SocialDrone, running the drones through complicated maneuvers to be sure the device won’t fall apart.
“I never thought there would be a moment when someone would die and I feel good about it,” Magdalyna said. But the war has changed her.
“I’m happy they die with my help,” she said of enemy Russian soldiers, “only because they will not kill us tomorrow.”