“Enchanted Forest”: 4 Days in the Most Dangerous Forest with Ukraine’s Fiber-Optic Drone Unit Signum

You see,

[music]

I [music] hate this sound.

[music]

This is a large burrow in the ground

in the deadliest forest of Ukraine.

The people you see are painting a free

and independent Ukraine.

The colors are [music] black, gray, and

a lot of red.

>> But what does it take to paint it?

Good night or good morning everyone. So

uh this is officially the start of my uh

first uh front light trip by myself and

uh today I'm uh embedding with the optic

fiber drones unit of uh signum

battalion.

So uh right now the most sketchy part is

ahead of me the road and I really hope

everything goes well.

>> [music]

>> A few miles down the road,

dozens of soundtracks later,

[music]

and I'm already riding in my armor on

the back seat.

Besides, silent soldiers

Next to me, the pile of wooden boxes

with god knows what inside.

On the dashboard, a futuristic device

flashes in the dark.

It's a drone video signal interceptor.

If we see ourselves on this monitor,

it's a bad sign. The road is long and

bumpy.

But it goes without accident.

Welcome to what soldiers call the

enchanted forest.

The saying goes, it's a magical forest.

You enter on both legs.

and you live without.

The soil is soaked in blood

and the trees are shattered and hurt. In

between for soon 4 years the war

for the next couple of days. This will

be my home.

Muscle, muscle, muscle.

I hate this sound.

A lot of stuff going on. The drones,

incoming, outgoing artillery.

Thankfully, we're here covered by the

trees deep in the forest. Um,

nevertheless,

the

situation is kind of action-packed here.

Um,

the reason for me being uh by myself is

pretty simple. The road is too dangerous

and there's no room in the car. There's

no room in the dugout. So, you have to

bear with me and my film making skills,

but I will do my best to document what's

going on here and

and how the guys uh fight and uh burn

and burn Russian vehicles and soldiers.

Turns out the boxes that kept hitting my

head were full of drones and ammo.

>> I arrived with a long awaited shipment.

>> The Ukrainian Lego is assembled fast.

And while breakfast is cooking,

>> the first drone is already looking

[music] for its prey.

[music]

Just a couple of kilometers ahead, there

are more burrows and more men.

Those are the infantry,

the ones holding the edge.

Our safety depends on them.

And everything the unit does right here

aims to keep them safe.

[music]

It's satisfying to hit targets [music]

that are approaching.

>> It could be a truck transporting

military personnel to war.

When you hit it, you can kill one or

two, but four or five more will realize

what war is all about.

What's

This is Siri

after his favorite actor.

He may sound quite modest, but he has a

lot to be proud of. Firstly, there are

hours of such videos on his hard drive.

Secondly, he's credited with the first

documented combat use of an FPV drone.

The mission took place in Balika

Kumawaka in June 2022

and is remembered here as the force

house with the blue door.

That launch has probably changed the

future of warfare.

Much has changed since then. The group

has grown into a battalion.

Electronic warfare has grown [music] to

interfere with radiocontrolled FPVs.

That's why Schwigger and his team are

now flying the next big thing.

What I'm holding in my hands is the

13-in FP drone. But what makes it

outstanding and uh probably the most

dominant uh weapon on the battlefield at

this very moment in Ukraine is this

spool of optic fiber below, which

basically uh leads to the pilot. And

this pool gives this optic fiber gives

the pilot a perfect image and uh makes

the drone unjammable. It is completely

independent from radio frequencies and

any sort of uh electronic warfare.

This technology has completely changed

the dynamic of the front line uh in

Ukraine. At this very moment, at this uh

day, there is no 100% cure

um from getting targeted with such

thing. Uh there's some methods like the

anti- drone nets uh that you probably

seen a lot of times by now. Uh but 100%

cure it does not exist. That is why the

going to the front line is uh not as fun

anymore. It is actually really scary

because um getting targeted, getting

seen by a drone like this means in 90%

uh that uh you're going to die or you're

going to get injured.

>> Well, we set fire to the forest near

their positions and their equipment

burned down. Drones and ammunition. They

were using fiber optic ones.

so to speak. Our effectiveness has

improved in some ways.

In some ways, it has become what it used

to be. When there weren't so many

electronic warfare means and various

anti- drone systems

for specific tasks, effectiveness has

improved significantly.

Even outside of this dugout, there are

thousands of man hours being put into

making sure Siri can launch a drone fast

and fly it where it belongs. At Signnum

Battalion headquarters, there's a

massive drone workshop where thousands

of drones of all sizes and purposes are

set up before they reach the pilots. The

most impressive part of the workshop is

the battalion's own fiber optics spool

manufacturer.

This is the room where we keep our

machines manufactured by us with our

winding system. Here we wind 5, 10, 15,

20 and 23 km reels specifically for

ourselves, for our drones, for our tasks

and requirements.

>> About 80% of our hits are with fiber

optics.

There are fiber optic drones at all

takeoff points,

two or three takeoff points. are still

partially operating the radio drones.

>> Back in the enchanted forest, a new

shipment arrives. A few words about

where we are. Russia has repeatedly

claimed complete control over the

Luhansk region. Yet, this is where the

video takes place. Just a tiny part of

Luhanskas remains under Ukrainian

control, but the soldiers are still

holding it with all their might.

So, the situation in the forest has been

a little bit chaotic. Uh, of course, the

Russians are pushing just like

everywhere. But uh here because of how

thick the trees and the bushes are, some

of the groups had made success with

passing through the front line and going

deep into Ukrainian controlled

positions. Um that is why um the guys

basically carry gun with them everywhere

they go outside of the dugout. I if you

go to the toilet, you bring a gun with

you because anything can happen.

Moreover, colleagues of Siri had uh

recently been ambushed by Russians.

Thankfully, they were prepared and they

were able to capture one of them. Here

is a video from a couple of weeks ago.

She

saychech.

This is basically the reason why Siri