They escaped from the frontline of Ukraine. The sound of the drone came after them

In a narrow apartment in Ukrainian capital Kiev, Paulo, a 30 -year -old drone operator who has just returned from the front, unzip a black hair about the size of the pizza box. Inside, there was a four-rotor drone thinking of flying around the room.

He pressed the buttons on the control unit and pushed the antenna to different places. Nothing happened. “Sorry, not today,” he said smiling. The unit looked fine, but something was broken.

In front, Pavlo, who only asked to identify by his first name, was the first-person view (FPV) pilot of the drone. These small, extremely manoverable drones have front-fising cameras that allow them to fly remotely. Over the past year, the bomb -filled FPV has become ubiquitous on the frontline in Ukraine, and has replaced the heavy weapons featured in the first phase of the war.

FPVs chases the armor vehicles, the trailein chases the infant units and the independent soldiers in their death. “You can’t hide from FPV and it is useless to drive,” said Pavlo. “Try to calm down as you can and you pray.”

Even if the FPV is too high to look or hidden behind the tree leaves, the soldiers can hear their distinctive, tall tall sounds.

“BZZZZZZ,” said Paval. “You are being hunted.”

For more than a year in front, Pavlo has returned home in the Kyiv apartment shared with his wife. But the sound of the drone is followed by him. Everyday mechanical tools such as lawnover, motorcycle and air conditioning reminded him of the FPV hunting him and his unit companions.

And nature is not an escape. Pavlo can no longer hear the sound of bees, and the mystery flies near him with a creepy panic. He said, “I no longer like to go to nature and listen to this sound, because it makes me miss a lot of drones.”

The trauma related to the sound is not new – the generations of soldiers have suddenly affected the voice of the soldiers after returning to civilian life. But as the war in Ukraine has evolved in a struggle by drone technology, the trauma has developed with it.

“Over the past year, most patients – if they are not physically injured – drone activity hurts mental health,” said Dr. Kiev’s military hospital. Seri Andichenco said. “We say this dronophobia.”

Dr. Andrichenko said many thousands of people are returning from the front like Paulo, there are intense stress disorders related to the sound of the drone. Common urban sounds – small motorcycles and scooters, lawn, air conditioners – any mechanics can be driven by droneophobia.

“If it is a moped or lawnover, my first thought is that it could be a drone,” said the Frontline soldier who lost his hand in the FPV drone attack.

On the next line, the drone was a “permanent voice”, said Saver who asked to identify the military protocol through his callsin. “The sound of the shell lasts a few seconds, but the sound of the drone is most often,” he said.

“You can put in your position in your foxhole and listen to the hours. I remember that sound all the time.”

Or sometimes the problem was the opposite – peace. “Peace is always the beginning,” Dr. Andrichenco said. “When the soldiers go to the rotation, they start to listen carefully to ensure that there is no drone. There are constant stress, constant fear. They are always watching.”

In many cases, the backbone of the civilian life did not relieve the constant tension. Soldiers are suddenly closing the lights at home, moving away from the windows and hiding under the furniture.

Later, if a soldier appeared for treatment, Dr. Andrichenko describes how he does not remember any trigger sound, but his wife or family member will explain that an exterior fan or air conditioner had just started.

The soldiers of the earlier phase of the war – which were more featured by the cruel, direct battle – came home, fear of being in the forests, where there was a lot of battle. But the drone warfare has reversed the incident. Now, the soldiers “are the safest in the forest under the roof of a dense tree”, said psychiatrist. “And in their free time they try to avoid the woody area.”

Another terrorism for the army has been affected by the battle for the increase in drone use – this has increased the area of danger from the front line. 40 km Soldiers running up to (25 miles) or pulling back after heavy rotation, can no longer go down their protection.

Nazar Bok, commander of a small drone unit, one day his unit is 22 km. When the Russian mortar was hit directly at the distance, the dagout was about 5 km from the contact line in one day. Success was built out of Bokhi Dogout, and forgot the usual protocol of stopping the taillel buzz first to listen.

At the distance of the meter, a Russian FPV was moving in the air. As it was approaching him, Bokila just had time to raise his hands. When it exploded, his hands and left eyes burned his face with both hands.

He said that Bokhi’s own PTSD was limited to the fear of the motorcycle and the lawmovers. But he knew about the consequences of the sound, because he said, because his unit had used it to terrorize others.

“We were the side that caused fear of noise, not suffering from it,” Bokhi said.

They understood that this sound could be used to force Russian soldiers in the open area. “You are confused around them and becomes a test of the enemy’s mental flexibility,” Bokhi said. “The drone’s own voice is a serious mental attack.”

According to Bokhi, a long buzz on a soldier will be a long time and it will leave a strong shelter and only fall into the open region. “Our psychology works in such a way that you need to do something to calm yourself,” Bokhi said. “So you walk around and mentally suppress him … and he starts to run and it is easy to hit.”

And the mental terror of FPV is no longer a problem on the next line. It has reached the back of the front lines. Russia has begun to use FPV to put weapons on citizens of Ukrainian cities.

The southern city and the drone range, which was occupied by the Russian troops for some time, is still comfortable. According to Human Rights Watch, Russian troops have intentionally targeted the citizens of the city with FPV drone and killed or beaten them – a war crime.

According to the regional military administration, at least 84 civilians have been killed in the Kharson region due to the Russian drone attacks this year.

Residents say that small FPV is daily terror.

“The 23 -year -old Seema Guard, DMTRO Olifirenco, said,” There is no such safe place in Kherson City. ” He said, “You should always focus on, and for that reason, the body is constantly stressed,” he said.

Olifrenco stopped at the bus stop in September when he heard the familiar sound of the Russian drone overhead. They said, “We thought they would go back to the bus, because they were hunting for civilian buses,” he said.

Instead, the drone just released its weapons at the bus stop and sent to Oliffirenco’s head, face and legs. The video of the incident was caught a drone buzz, depicted by a biatandar, followed by the screaming of Olifrenco.

Olifrenko now heard the drones “constantly”, he said whether they were there or not. He said, “It strictly kill your mental and mental health.” “When you leave for Mycolive or another city, you are constantly trying to listen.”

For citizens like Olifrenco, the drones have transformed the general sound of the population – cars, motorcycles, generators, lawn, air conditioners – in psychological gonits such as running everyday citizens, such as they themselves are threatening to the actual danger of the drone.

For soldiers who come back from a front like Paulo, the drones have created a new and specific kind of fear, which is not easy to shake.

“We see the world as a battlefield,” said Paval. “It can become a battlefield for any second.”

And all the triggers, hearing power – the human senses are so effectively exploiting the drone – the most insidious, he said.

“When you see something, your brain can check in a second, you can know what is fast.

“But an unknown sound is different. Your brain has changed. You cannot ignore it. You must respond. Because at the frontline, it can save your life.”

Switana Libet contributed to this report. Photos of Joel Gunter.