In better times, Ukrainian drone enthusiasts flew their gadgets into the sky to photograph weddings, fertilize soybean fields or race other drones for fun. Now some are risking their lives by forming a volunteer drone force to help their country repel the Russian invasion. "Kyiv needs you and your drone at this moment of fury!" read a Facebook post late last week from the Ukrainian military, calling for citizens to donate hobby drones and to volunteer as experienced pilots to operate them. One entrepreneur who runs a retail store selling consumer drones in the capital said its entire stock of some 300 drones has been dispersed for the cause. "And everybody just started to use those drones to find some enemies in our country, and it's helpful. And I know many examples where it saved the life of our Ukrainian people," said Taras Troiak, co-founder of Quadro.ua, a dealer of drones made by Chinese company DJI. Unlike the much larger Turkish-built combat drones that Ukraine has in its arsenal, off-the-shelf consumer drones like DJI's aren't much use as weapons — but they can be powerful reconnaissance tools. Troiak said civilians have been using the aerial cameras to track Russian convoys and then relay the images and GPS coordinates to Ukrainian troops. Some of the machines have night vision and heat sensors.
