Ukrainian Drone Operator: See Mom, Those Videogames Were Useful after All

A man checks the debris next to a damaged office building in the Moscow City following a reported Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, Russia, August 1, 2023. (Reuters)
A man checks the debris next to a damaged office building in the Moscow City following a reported Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, Russia, August 1, 2023. (Reuters)
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Ukrainian Drone Operator: See Mom, Those Videogames Were Useful after All

A man checks the debris next to a damaged office building in the Moscow City following a reported Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, Russia, August 1, 2023. (Reuters)
A man checks the debris next to a damaged office building in the Moscow City following a reported Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, Russia, August 1, 2023. (Reuters)

The four propellers hum like a bee, the black drone zips into the air. Mykhailo, a 25-year-old Ukrainian soldier, stands under a tree surveying the whizzing landscape through his goggles, steering with fingertips on the remote.

"Every time I put on my goggles and take the joystick, I think about my mother telling me those video games won't do me any good," he says with a smile.

"Well, if this isn't useful, then what is?"

Drones have played a central role in the Russia-Ukraine war, deployed by both sides. There are big drones that can fly hundreds of miles, some that hover over the battlefield taking pictures and others that carry weapons to drop on targets.

But there may be no more characteristic weapon of this war than the tiny, inexpensive "first-person view" (FPV) drones, designed to crash straight into a target on the battlefield, steered by a pilot wired into a virtual reality headset.

It is a constant game of cat and mouse against enemy troops, who try to interfere with remote signals using electronic warfare (EW) systems, said Mykhailo, who did not give a surname and uses the military call sign "Joker".

"You cannot work from the same position many times, because the enemy reacts to it, turns on the EW, jams our drones," he explained in between test flights of a new batch of drones received by his unit in southern Ukraine's frontline Zaporizhzhia region.

"We need to constantly look for new positions, where to fly from, and for new targets."

Unlike other drones that can be sent up and monitored, the FPV drones never simply hover; they are always flying fast and looking forward. Their cameras don't even point downwards.

"The pilot must always be in full control of the drone, of its flight," Mykhailo says. "It can attack at speed, from height, in various ways - each pilot flies the drone in his own style - but it always attacks at speed."



DeepSeek Faces Expulsion from App Stores in Germany

FILE - The smartphone apps DeepSeek page is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
FILE - The smartphone apps DeepSeek page is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
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DeepSeek Faces Expulsion from App Stores in Germany

FILE - The smartphone apps DeepSeek page is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
FILE - The smartphone apps DeepSeek page is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

Germany has taken steps towards blocking Chinese AI startup DeepSeek from the Apple and Google app stores due to concerns about data protection, according to a data protection authority commissioner in a statement on Friday.

DeepSeek has been reported to the two US tech giants as illegal content, said commissioner Meike Kamp, and the companies must now review the concerns and decide whether to block the app in Germany, Reuters reported.

"DeepSeek has not been able to provide my agency with convincing evidence that German users' data is protected in China to a level equivalent to that in the European Union," she said.

"Chinese authorities have far-reaching access rights to personal data within the sphere of influence of Chinese companies," she added.

The move comes after Reuters exclusively reported this week that DeepSeek is aiding China's military and intelligence operations.

DeepSeek, which shook the technology world in January with claims that it had developed an AI model that rivaled those from US firms such as ChatGPT creator OpenAI at much lower cost, says it stores numerous personal data, such as requests to the AI or uploaded files, on computers in China.