Working as a team, they took pictures of the armor moving to Kyiv and located its coordinates, quickly sending valuable information to the Ukrainian army. Within minutes, artillery batteries fired shells at the invading forces, killing them. Andriy Pokrasa, 15, and his father, Stanislav, are greeted in Ukraine for their voluntary air reconnaissance work in the early days of the invasion, when Russian troops entering from the north made a failed attempt to occupy the capital and bring the country to its knees. For a whole week after the February 24 invasion, the couple made repeated drone trips – risking arrest or worse if Russian troops knew they were spying. “These were some of the scariest moments of my life,” Andriy said as he demonstrated his piloting skills to a group of Associated Press reporters. “We gave the photos and the location to the armed forces,” he said. “They reduced the coordinates more accurately and transmitted them with a walkie-talkie to adjust the artillery.” His father was glad he left the navigation to the boy. “I can operate the drone, but my son does it much better. “We immediately decided he would do it,” said Stanislav Pokrasa, 41. They are not sure how many Russian targets were destroyed using the information they provided. But they saw the devastation caused by the Russian escort when they later flew the drone back over the charred trucks and tanks near a city west of Kiev and from a strategically important highway leading to the capital. “There were more than 20 Russian military vehicles destroyed, including fuel trucks and tanks,” the father said. As Russian and Ukrainian forces fought fiercely for control of the Kiev suburbs, Ukrainian soldiers eventually urged the Pokrasa family to leave their village, which was later occupied by Russian troops. As all adult men up to the age of 60 are subject to government orders to remain in the country, Elder Pokrassa could not be reunited with his wife and son when they fled to neighboring Poland. They returned a few weeks ago, when Andriy had finished his school year. “I was glad we destroyed someone,” he said. “I was glad I contributed, that I was able to do something. “Not just to sit and wait.”
AP journalist John Leicester contributed to this report from Kyiv, Ukraine.
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