Business Insider's Senior Defense Reporter Jake Epstein met up with an air defense unit on the outskirts of Kyiv to see how they defend against Russian drones.
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00:00I went to Ukraine earlier this month. Air raid sirens go off pretty much every night,
00:04but it's now just a part of the routine in the capital city. Of course, the situation is
00:09different as you get closer to the front lines in the east and the south. I've been covering
00:12the conflict for many years now and I thought it was time to actually see the impact of the war.
00:17I met with the deputy commander of the seven-member unit and two of his soldiers.
00:21When they're not fighting against the Russian drones, one of them is a teacher and the other
00:25is a teacher's assistant. This particular air defense unit is a mobile air defense group.
00:29They drive pickup trucks with M2 Browning machine guns mounted on the bed of the truck.
00:33Their goal is to defend against the many drones that Russia launches across the border every night.
00:38The Shahed drones are really dangerous, targeting military and civilian infrastructure. They fly at
00:43speeds at over 115 miles per hour and carry an explosive warhead that can weigh nearly 90 pounds.
00:49This makes them quite deadly and destructive. These drones are far more expendable than some
00:53of the higher-end missiles that Russia has. Russia started off by receiving many of its
00:57one-way attack drones from Iran, but it can now produce them at home. Britain's defense
01:01ministry said recently that Russia can likely sustain its drone launch rate of at least 2,000
01:06a month for the rest of the year. To detect and target the Russian drones, the Ukrainians have
01:11a radar and a thermal imaging display. They can also use the naked eye to try and spot them.
01:16One way to train the soldiers is virtual reality simulators, where they get a feel for using the
01:21big machine gun and can practice battling drones in different attack scenarios. Their mission is
01:26to protect civilians and critical infrastructure from drone attacks. One soldier told me the best
01:31part about his work is knowing that when he shoots down a drone, it means civilians will stay alive.