Putin's revenge... 'like a nightmare that wouldn't end'

EVERYONE here expected Russian revenge for Ukraine's recent kneecap of Putin's bomber fleet.

- JOHN MARONE

But once it started just after midnight yesterday, it seemed like a nightmare that just wouldn't end.

One after another unmanned aerial vehicle came buzzing over the dark horizon and picked up speed as it descended, before going into a frenzied ear-splitting kamikaze dive.

Several times during the four-hour non-stop attack, I found myself pinned to the wall of my flat in my underwear, bracing for what seemed like imminent impact.

Then the drone, invisible to us building dwellers below, would either veer off, be shot down by air defence forces or crash into a target and burn.

In the dead of night, with the windows all open due to the warm weather, the whir, whine and the explosion of these mechanical birds of prey is all too vivid, particularly if one has just been roused from a deep sleep.

Payload

Visually, the attack resembles an almost beautiful light show — criss-crossing search beams, tracer rounds rising rhythmically into the night sky and what looked like strobe light just floating in mid-air.