'We have to win': Ukrainian marines on war with Russia - amid concerns over Trump's return to the White House

The Darth Vader taxable tune abruptly bleeps from the underbelly of a Ukrainian drone arsenic a marine attaches a mortar circular to it earlier launching the craft against a Russian position.

The Ukrainians accidental their force fears this benignant of rotary drone successful peculiar due to the fact that of the size of the bombs it tin drop.

Unmanned craft utilized by some sides person transformed the battlefield successful the astir 3 years since Russia launched its full-scale war.

But different translation is besides looming arsenic Donald Trump prepares to instrumentality to the White House.

The president-elect has promised to extremity the warring - though without saying how.

Offering a consciousness of the temper connected the ground, respective Ukrainian troops told Sky News they were powerfully against immoderate benignant of brokered woody that gifts onshore to Moscow.

"I anticipation the result of this warfare volition beryllium just," said Major Vladyslav Tovstii, 28, commandant of the Korsar battalion, 38th Separate Marine Brigade, speaking astatine a drone bid centre successful eastbound Ukraine where his marines telephone successful and way strikes connected Russian targets.

"For me, a conscionable bid is the instrumentality of our territory. That's the lone knowing I have; there's nary different way."

Battle-hardened contempt his young age, Vladyslav has been warring since earlier Russia launched its all-out penetration connected 24 February 2022.

Standing successful beforehand of a partition of screens, showing video feeds from surveillance craft and onslaught drones, the commandant gave his presumption connected the anticipation of immoderate benignant of compromise woody with Vladimir Putin - thing that Mr Trump whitethorn good effort to achieve.

"It would mean that justness successful the satellite is not arsenic I spot it," Major Tovstii said.

"A compromise is nary longer astir justice; it's astir concessions, which means that if you are stronger, you tin instrumentality what you want."

His brigade is among the units attempting to halt a grinding Russian beforehand towards the frontline metropolis of Pokrovsk.

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The usage of drones is simply a cardinal mode for Ukraine to compensate for a deficiency of manpower compared to the fig of soldiers Russia is sacrificing regular for each inch of captured land.

But Russian forces besides run ample numbers of unmanned aircraft, with each broadside perpetually adapting their machines to beryllium capable to alert further and transportation larger payloads.

Another improvement is successful the country of physics warfare, which is designed to jam the signals of force drones and unit them retired of the sky. Countering this menace is critical.

Sky News was fixed exclusive entree to a makeshift Ukrainian drone mill wherever engineers and different specialists from the marine brigade accommodate craft to springiness them a amended accidental of defeating Russian jamming efforts and flying deeper into Russian-held territory.

"If you don't privation to sacrifice your men, your soldiers, you amended marque this combat distant, right?" said a technician astatine the factory, who went by the sanction "Cartman" from the cartoon bid South Park.

He said the occurrence complaint for his unit's drones is somewhat supra 50%, but adjacent that level is getting harder to prolong arsenic Russia improves its physics warfare tactics.

Armed with tools and hunched implicit drone parts, the squad present is moving arsenic hard arsenic ever contempt increasing uncertainty astir the aboriginal of the war.

"This is specified a discarded of time, of my time," said Cartman, who volunteered to articulation the subject past year, giving up a elder occupation astatine an planetary company. He spoke successful English.

"While immoderate radical are creating technologies to prevention beingness and to marque beingness better, we are moving connected technologies - not conscionable to termination the enemy, but to destruct him completely.

"This is retired of (contrary to) communal sense, but we person nary choice. There's nary mode out. We person to triumph this war."

Asked what his connection was for Mr Trump, Cartman said: "You cannot marque friends with a shark attacking you. You cannot speech communal consciousness if the carnal wants to termination you.

"What dialog skills volition you use if you person conscionable to combat for your survival?"

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Back with the marine who had The Imperial March from Star Wars bleeping retired of his drone, the onslaught cognition is nether way.

The serviceman raced with a workfellow to an underground structure aft attaching the mortar circular to the drone, which is called "Perun".

It is unsafe to walk excessively overmuch clip extracurricular due to the fact that Russian eyes are besides successful the sky.

After the craft took off, they tracked its advancement connected a surface which showed unrecorded footage from a video camera besides fixed to the machine.

Once implicit a Russian presumption adjacent to Pokrovsk - wherever the heaviest warring is taking spot - the explosive was dropped. The squad confirmed a hit.

Oscar, a institution commandant successful complaint of this unit, said helium had 2 views connected the anticipation of a woody that meant Russia held connected to immoderate Ukrainian onshore and the struggle was frozen.

On the 1 hand, the 22-year-old said it would beryllium bully if it meant nary much Ukrainians dying.

But connected the different hand, speaking successful breached English, helium said: "If we froze this war, it gives our force clip for preparing [the] adjacent attack. And this is truthful atrocious due to the fact that we don't person galore people."

Asked however helium felt astir the imaginable of a frozen war, Oscar said helium would beryllium bittersweet "because my galore friends dying... I lost... men of my family... For what? For what [were they] dying?"

Additional reporting by Azad Safarov, Ukraine producer