A soldier with the call sign ''Pavuk'' (''Spider'') watches a drone take off from a ground robotic complex during trials at a training ground on April 10, 2026. [AFP]

He had barely learned how to hold a gun when he was thrust into one of the most dangerous assignments on the Russia-Ukraine battlefield — hunting deadly Ukrainian drones.

When Dickson Chege arrived in Russia in December 2025, he says he had no military experience, no weapons training and no idea he would soon find himself on the frontlines of the war in eastern Ukraine.

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