A single air defense crew from Ukraine's 25th Separate Airborne Brigade destroyed 43 Russian reconnaissance drones in just three days on the Pokrovsk front, the brigade reported on 27 January.
The kills represent nearly $95,000 in destroyed Russian equipment - a conservative estimate that doesn't account for upgraded configurations or the munitions many drones carried for aerial drops.
Pokrovsk in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast remains one of the war's most active sectors, where Russian forces have been pushing to capture the logistics hub since mid-2024.
Hunting Mavics
The crew, part of the brigade's air defense missile division within the 7th Air Assault Corps, used counter-drone systems to intercept the Russian DJI Mavic-series quadcopters - cheap commercial drones Russia has deployed en masse for battlefield reconnaissance and small munition drops.
"Some of those Mavics took real effort to chase down - but in this race, we hold the advantage," said a crew member with the callsign "Quest."
The brigade attributed the results to technological capability, coordination, and operator skill.
At roughly $2,200 per basic Mavic, the 43 drones represent a modest financial loss for Russia. But the tactical cost is higher: each downed drone is a failed reconnaissance mission, a bombing run that never happened, or an artillery correction that went blind.
Blinding Russian eyes over Pokrovsk
Ukrainian forces in the Pokrovsk sector have made counter-drone operations a priority. On 14 January, the Eastern Military Command reported destroying 45 Russian drones and neutralizing 39 drone teams in a single day while repelling 57 assault attempts.
As Russia has shifted to small-group infantry infiltrations to avoid detection near Pokrovsk, both sides have grown increasingly reliant on drones to spot - and kill - each other's troops.
