‘This is where democracy beats totalitarianism’: Ukraine’s drone strike force takes the fight to Russia

Exclusive: At a launch site in the Ukrainian countryside, members of the elite ‘Magyar’s Birds’ brigade are turning Russia’s vast size into a weakness Sparrows were cheeping as the sun set over a field of tall yellow sunflowers when a moped-like growl suddenly disturbed the evening calm. The noise rose, dipped, and rose again. Lt Col Ray – a Ukrainian commander with the 414th aviation brigade – took cover in a leafy ditch. Seconds later a Ukrainian drone roared into a mauve sky. It jerked…