When a Russian missile struck Mykyta Luchok’s position last December, the explosion left the 27-year-old Ukrainian concussed and riddled with shrapnel. It also caused Luchok’s phone to dial his wife, to whom he’d just texted “I love you.” She had to listen as the three-man drone unit scrambled for their lives and her husband pulled a comrade with shattered legs from the blast zone. It was she who called in for their evacuation.
Luchok’s wounds healed, though he now suffers from epilepsy. For a while he trained new drone pilots, until he was discharged in October. He had served for two years, during which time warfare in Ukraine has been transformed.
