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Russia-Ukraine War

A Ukrainian National Guard soldier holds an FPV drone caught in a net in an unnamed location, Ukraine, on Oct. 20, 2026.
War

The net gun built for civilians in Ukraine’s kill zone

by Jakub Laichter

At a training with the Ukrainian National Guard’s Omega unit, engineers from the defense tech company BlueBird Tech describe how to use their net gun, named Chipa, to entangle an approaching drone’s propellers. The soldiers rehearse encounters with approaching first-person-view (FPV) drones, monitoring a handheld detector as they walk. Once they spot a drone, one soldier who goes by the callsign Poliak (Ukrainian for "Pole"), pulls the safety pin and takes aim with the net gun, while the others

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How Ukraine outmaneuvered Russian troops in Operation Vivaldi

Editor's note: Most of the Ukrainian soldiers and commanders interviewed are identified by their callsigns, in accordance with military protocols. KHARKIV OBLAST — Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr had already narrowly survived crossing a mine-strewn field and a river in the crosshairs of Russian artillery when the swarm of first-person-view (FPV) drones began hunting him. "If I'm honest, I was convinced they were going to kill us," the 37-year-old told the Kyiv Independent while chain-smoking cigar

About War

The Kyiv Independent's coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, after eight years of aggression against Ukraine that began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and fighting in Donbas. The war has resulted in tens of thousands of military and civilian casualties and displaced millions of Ukrainians. NATO and Western allies have provided military aid to Ukraine while the conflict continues across fronts in Ukraine’s south and east.

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