Vladimir Putin’s troops are surrendering to drones.
The 73-year-old autocrat’s forces have been suffering in a meat grinder of his making since 2022, as they try to take ground in a 30-mile-wide kill zone jam-packed with mines and drones that runs the length of the front line.
Ukraine has become a world leader in drone warfare, and is now using that expertise against Russian troops in an effort to force them to surrender.
Last winter, some 100 Russians surrendered to drones, according to former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
Kyiv has deployed drones on land, at sea, and in the air. Long-range missiles strike deep into Russian territory, while smaller first-person quadcopters watch, harass, and attack troops on the front line.
“We see their anxiety, because the camera captures a lot. We see their faces. We see how they breathe,” Mayak, the codename of a Ukrainian drone operator in eastern Ukraine, told NBC News.
Much of the fighting falls to what are often believed to be minimally trained troops, sent to break through Ukrainian lines at whatever personal cost before more elite forces follow behind them.
“Maybe some of them, they walk forward and they don’t care. They just go. Walk, walk, crouch, smoke, and keep walking,” said Mayak. “Others, you see how they tremble, how they worry, how scared they are.”
Ukraine has capitalized on that fear. After observation drones spot troops and guide attack drones onto them, the final stage is to break the will of the exhausted troops and get them to lay down their arms.
To do this, another drone fitted with a loudspeaker has been used to offer troops—many of whom are injured or have watched their comrades die—the opportunity to surrender.
Ukraine has even started a program called “I Want to Live,” which is aimed at educating Russians on how to surrender to a drone.
The project published a video in Russian that advises soldiers to “Establish eye contact with the drone,” and then “Lay down your weapon. Raise your hands. Show that you want to surrender.”
The battlefield pressure comes as Putin also faces growing calls to end the war from a surprising quarter. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Putin on Monday that the war in Ukraine “must end,” saying there should be a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Modi made the comments during a meeting with Putin in China, where the two leaders were attending a regional summit.
