Go to the ground. Fred Pleitgen has been on the front lines in Ukraine. And Fred, what are you seeing there tonight? Are there and what we're seeing is that the fighting is drastically picking up. We saw some vicious battles going on to the north of where I am right now, massive exchanges of artillery but also fierce ground fighting as well in force as the Ukrainians and the Russians are fighting for turf. Here's what we're learning Ukraine's entire eastern front is now heating up. This is Russian infantry in a massive firefight in the forest near the town of criminal Donetsk close by. We're creeping through the same forest with a Ukrainian frontline drone unit called Dnipro, one that scouts out Russian positions and direct Ukrainian fire Drone operator Ruslan says working in the forests is extremely dangerous. All time work intense. A lot of artillery from different directions, from east and from north.
But the team is often able to spot attempted Russian advances here. Russian infantry are moving through the thick woodland and this tank leaves cover and opens fire towards Ukrainian positions. That's mostly the Ukrainians liberated towns and villages in this area last autumn. But the scars of battle are visible everywhere. This village like many of the ones in this area, was heavily damaged when the Ukrainians moved in here in fall. For a while, it was quiet.
But now all that is changing. The fighting is coming back. And it's heavier than ever before. The few people remaining, those too poor or too old to flee are the new. I ask Valentino if it's not too dangerous to stay here. Yes, it is dangerous, he says. But what can we do? Of course it's dangerous. But we endure. Sometimes we hide. But now it's too cold at the base. The Russians have massively beefed up their forces around Crimea. They believe they have to prevent the Ukrainians breaking through here to sustain their own offensive against Bermuda and are now also launching fresh attacks near Vladimir further south. This video near Voulu shows Russian armor getting hit by Ukraine's artillery. The soldiers run away. A wounded comrade tries to crawl to safety in all these places.
Drones are critical to detect and to destroy the enemy. Dnipro one has its own drone workshop where NATO's issued grenades are literally sawn and have to be carried on drone launch. Yuri can manufacture drone munitions in 20 minutes and they've proven very effective in the conflict. NARA's ordnance drone operator is one of the most dangerous jobs, the boss says. As soon as they locate a drone operator, they use all kinds of weaponry, artilleries and the last tanks. We have a high rate of casualties among drone pilots, even a fixer here in the forest whose lands mission is now over. But he sees a long battle ahead in a contest of wits and brute force. Mostly last month, our arm exhausted but lost to think. Two weeks, maybe we stop and Russians making counterattack and all the time.
Drones will shape the way this war changes I think important to point out, Erin, that what you heard there in that report, those thuds, those artillery thuds, those explosions, we were on the ground for several hours in that area. And it did not stop at any time that we were there and we were witnessing all of that now. The Ukrainians say they believe what is actually going on there is that a lot of the people that Russia mobilized late last year are now arriving at the front lines. The Russians are beefing up their presence there and they're going on the counterattack. And while this might not yet be the start of that spring offensive, they certainly believe it could be a prelude to it Erin.
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