One soldier, callsign Amigo, is preparing to carry out his mission in his area of operations near Kyiv.

When you read in the news that Kyiv was attacked by 120 Shahed drones and most of them were shot down, think of these troops – that interception is the result of their handiwork. As enemy attacks have become more frequent, their workload has increased as well.

"Previously, we may have had a week of quiet," Amigo noted. "Now we're working nonstop, 24/7."

As the war continues to evolve, it isn't just the workload of these mobile groups that increases – it's the complexity of their jobs as well.

"Drones have started constantly changing their flight paths," explained Serhii, another soldier. "Some drones are simply meant to overload our air defenses. It's hard to tell whether a Shahed is carrying a payload or is just a decoy. They often change altitude; some fly very low, taking advantage of terrain features, while others come in very high, making them harder to detect. All of this affects the outcome of our work."

"[We can take down] anything we can see with our eyes and hear with our ears – missiles or drones," said Amigo. "We see a target – we take it down. Of course, everything depends on the missile's altitude, speed and distance."

In addition to the Turkish CANiK-1 machine gun, this unit also uses the Ukrainian guided air defense missile Igla, or "Needle," which is analogous to the American Stinger.

"You can shoot down both Shaheds and missiles with the Igla," said Mirage. "I shot down a Shahed with a Stinger once; it's a bit better of a weapon than the Igla. It identifies the target faster; the Igla takes about five seconds, but it takes the Stinger just a couple of seconds."

"No one believed weapons like these could take down missiles, but we've shown them we can do it," Amigo highlighted. "All you need are sharp eyes and ears – and additional equipment, of course, like night vision devices, good sights and so on."

The number and locations of these units are classified. Each group has its own area of operations. While one group performs its mission, neighboring units monitor their work. Since Russian forces are targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, whether Kyiv will have power tomorrow or not depends on the efforts of these troops.

"This is our land – our home," Amigo emphasized. "Our parents, we ourselves and our children were born here. We have to protect our families."

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