BATTLE CAM EXTRAORDINARY VALOUR CAUGHT ON VIDEO

Drones are taking over war zones, but not just as offensive flying weapons. As LORD ASHCROFT reports from Kyiv, they are now being used to provide round-the-clock overwatch... and the incredible footage they capture is also being used to distinguish bravery

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THE EMERGENCE of sophisticated aerial drones over the past three years of Ukraine's brutal war with Russia has changed the shape of global warfare forever. However, it will also alter the way in which we recognise gallantry. While so-called "kamikaze drones" are used to attack targets and kill service personnel, the modern battlefield is also under scrutiny like never before from "reconnaissance drones" which record footage around the clock.

When someone shows exceptional courage but their bravery is either witnessed by very few or even none of their comrades they can still be decorated on the basis of a video recorded from the skies.

As someone with a lifelong interest in the concept of courage and the owner of the largest collection of Victoria Crosses in the world, I considered this to be a fascinating development. So much so that I travelled to Ukraine to hear the account of a prolonged act of bravery recorded by numerous drones over several hours which almost defies belief.

Senior Soldier Ivan Chornyi, now 26, was awarded his country's premier bravery award the order of "Golden Star" as a "Hero of Ukraine" - largely on the basis of footage seen by the-then commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Chornyithe son of a mill worker and the football-loving middle child of three from a village in the Poltava region was a factory hand living in Poland when Russia invaded his homeland in February 2022. Chornyi immediately returned to Ukraine to serve his country in its hour of need.

Then aged 23 and with no military experience, he initially struggled to find a unit that would take him but eventually enrolled in a private security outfit and, later, the 116th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade.

Soon Chornyi, 5 feet 11 inches tall with light brown hair and a beard, was fighting in and around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which has witnessed some of the most brutal fighting of the war.