Putin Humiliated as His Troops Find a New Way to Surrender

Mikhail Metzel / via REUTERS Vladimir Putin’s troops are surrendering to drones.

The 73-year-old autocrat’s forces have been suffering in a meat grinder of his making since 2022, as they try to take ground in a 30-mile-wide kill zone jam-packed with mines and drones that runs the length of the front line.

Ukraine has become a world leader in drone warfare , and is now using that expertise against Russian troops in an effort to force them to surrender.

Last winter, some 100 Russians surrendered to drones, according to former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

Kyiv has deployed drones on land, at sea, and in the air.

Long-range missiles strike deep into Russian territory, while smaller first-person quadcopters watch, harass, and attack troops on the front line.

“We see their anxiety, because the camera captures a lot.

We see their faces.

We see how they breathe,” Mayak, the codename of a Ukrainian drone operator in eastern Ukraine, told NBC News .

Much of the fighting falls to what are often believed to be minimally trained troops, sent to break through Ukrainian lines at whatever personal cost before more elite forces follow behind them.

“Maybe some of them, they walk forward and they don’t care.

They just go.

Walk, walk, crouch, smoke, and keep walking,” said Mayak.

“Others, you see how they tremble, how they worry, how scared they are.” Ukraine has capitalized on that fear.