The drones fighting cat and mouse battles behind Russian front lines in Ukraine

Serviceman of the 15th Separate Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, callsign Buryi, 30-years-old, checks a Shark drone before launching, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 30, 2023. REUTERS/Alina Smutko

KHARKIV REGION, Ukraine (Reuters) - As a Ukrainian rocket made its way towards the Russian radar system, the soldiers in the elite unit whose drone had discovered the target waited with bated breath.

"Still about a minute left," said the drone's pilot, 46-year-old Soliara, before silence fell over their control van, full of screens and cables and concealed in a hedgerow in the northwest Kharkiv region.