The devastation being caused to the people of Ukraine can be clearly seen from above. Draganfly drones can detect survivors of relentless bombing.
Dranganfly CEO Cameron Chell was in Ukraine this week to help get more drones into the air.
“The most common thing is to witness the incredible determination of the Ukrainian people and how they wish to normalize their lives.”
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What really sticks in my mind is how quickly they cleared the areas and how quickly they switched to reconstruction,” said Chell from his hotel room in Kyiv.
Draganfly Inc. is a Saskatoon-based company that has donated three drone systems to Revived Soldiers Ukraine, a humanitarian organization that provides aid to Ukrainians.
Chell said they are providing mainly things like insulin, antibiotics and rape kits.
Drones are also capable of performing search and rescue, which saves time and resources.
“It’s much quicker to find signs of human heat with a thermal camera on a drone than walking around in a dangerous location,” says Chell.
This week, they completed the deployment and training of the first two Situational Assessment Drones for resurrected Ukrainian soldiers. Those drones were received by Iryna Vashchuk Discipio, president of RSU.
The Situational Assessment Drone is designed to provide critical visual monitoring in medical and disaster response scenarios. Those drones, combined with the Medical Response Drone, will help RSU safely deliver humanitarian aid.
Five drones in Ukraine were purchased for $500,000 by Calgary businessman Riaz Mamdani, CEO of Strategic Group. They are part of a project he founded called DroneAid: Ukraine.
“I am extremely excited about that initiative. I know for a fact that we are saving lives there today,” said Mamdani.
“It’s a mechanism to save lives without risking lives.
“I’m excited about creating the whole initiative, not just writing checks.”
Chell predicts that some of the drones will be destroyed.
He said time in Ukraine was essential to building relationships and dealing with the complexities of operating in a war zone with multiple levels of coordination.
“When a drone is up in the air, the first thing anyone wants to do, no matter which side of the conflict you are on, is shoot it,” Chell said.
“This is a complex device, in the best environmental conditions you could lose it. So when your environment is where you’re having radio interference and conflict happens and adrenaline gets high and everything else happens to it, there’s bound to be significant drone damage. drive,” said Chell.
Mamdani said the goal is to have 200 drones in Ukraine within the next three months.
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