‘They started bombing us with drones’: Russian attacks unnerve Zaporizhzhia

Volodymyr, a resident of Preobrazhenka, fled his village after a Russian drone attack left him with burns to his arms and hands. He and his neighbours had taken shelter in a basement to escape the bombardment.

The attack on Komyshuvakha, which killed at least 50 people, was one of the deadliest of the year. Many of the victims had gathered at a local school to receive humanitarian aid, and several are still missing, feared dead under the rubble.

The constant threat of Russian drones has made everyday life in the region unbearable. Over the past three years of the war, the use of first-person-view (FPV) drones has proven that an army no longer needs boots on the ground to advance.

Well-documented footage shows these drones deliberately targeting vehicles and civilians on the streets. Ukrainians say drones have stalked residents in cities including Kherson, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk.

Zaporizhzhia, once a safe haven for thousands of internally displaced people fleeing Russian-occupied areas, is now showing warning signs of the same danger. The city administration is racing to install anti-drone netting over streets and civilian infrastructure in the Cosmos neighbourhood.

However, the nets are a reactive measure. Boarded-up windows and bombed-out buildings across the city illustrate the difficulty of mitigating the threat once the drones arrive.

Denys Knysh, a regional military administration official, says authorities are preparing to relocate the shelter where Volodymyr is staying to another neighbourhood if the situation gets worse.

Many in the shelter are elderly or have limited mobility. Some lack the documents needed to relocate, making evacuation more difficult. Others prefer to stay in Zaporizhzhia, close to their former homes, holding on to hope that the war will end.

Since the beginning of the war, Zaporizhzhia has provided refuge for thousands of internally displaced people fleeing cities like Mariupol and Melitopol, which fell under Russian control early in the conflict.

Protective drone netting hangs over a petrol station in Zaporizhzhia, a common sight along the Pryberezhna Highway that follows the river. Every petrol station and business in the area is covered in the netting.

Earlier that day, Russian Banderol missiles, a type of low-cost, jet-powered cruise missile, struck a shopping mall and the main bridge into the city. An FPV drone also hit a city bus.

Nataliia, an employee at a petrol station, described the situation as “scary and dangerous, everything is flying around. Just today a drone flew over us.”

Zaporizhzhia still has signs of normality. Twinkling lights hang over restaurant terraces, and some streets still buzz with life. A drone detection device known as a ‘Chuika’ intercepts the video signal of Russian FPV drones, warning its operator of the nearby threat.

But the transition is rarely clear-cut. People gradually adapt to each new threat, starting with streets covered in nets, then drone jammers on the roofs of city buses, and bridges bearing gaping holes from attacks. Children walk around carrying drone detectors.

Knysh says authorities are ready to evacuate the city if and when that time comes. He notes that it is very difficult to calculate how many people are left in the city because every day people leave Zaporizhzhia.

The demographic data in Google does not correspond to the reality on the ground. As the security situation in Zaporizhzhia deteriorates, some of those who once fled to the region for safety now face the prospect of having to leave again.