Ukraine cyber-operators are being deployed on the front lines of the war, duelling close-up with their Russian counterparts in a new kind of high-tech battle.

“Our cyber department is headed by people who are directly involved in combat,” Illia Vitiuk, the head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), tells Reuters.

As he explains inside the heavily protected SBU headquarters, his teams combine the skills of hackers and special forces – gaining access to Russian systems, working with snipers, and deploying the latest technology.

To provide military targets, the department uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) visual recognition systems to analyze information gathered from aerial drones (along with human intelligence, satellites, and other technical sources).

The type of military weapons they are about to use and the direction they will use are clear to us,” Vitiuk says.

In addition to hacking surveillance cameras on occupied territory, his teams will also watch Russian troop movements. Kamikaze drones are used to take out Russian spy cameras monitoring Ukrainian movements. Teams are often required to work undercover, near their targets, in order to accomplish this.

During this conflict, drones have been at the forefront of innovation, sometimes serving as weapons, sometimes as surveillance tools.

Using its own drones, the SBU cyber-team disrupts Russian drones in a cat-and-mouse game. Sensors detect drones so operators can’t just jam them, but take control by sending commands to land them.

It is often necessary to do all of this close to the ground. This, in turn, carries a risk for the team members. “You have to protect them there, so you have to provide security around them,” Mr Vitiuk says.

Military operators are being trained on drones just outside the capital.