Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions The Best Music of 2025 Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions The Best Music of 2025 About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Kherson, Ukraine: A hometown changed (Pt. 1) Four years of Russia's all-out war on Ukraine have transformed not only Ukrainian cities but also how modern warfare is waged, in the first of this two-part story from Kherson. World Kherson, Ukraine: A hometown changed (Pt. 1) March 31, 20265:37 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered Joanna Kakissis UKRAINE A HOMETOWN CHANGED PART 1 Listen · 7:58 7:58 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5719102/nx-s1-9711180" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Four years of Russia's all-out war on Ukraine have transformed not only Ukrainian cities but also how modern warfare is waged, in the first of this two-part story from Kherson. Sponsor Message
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The use of drones has not only transformed how modern war is waged, but also what it means to live in a front-line city. During Russia's four years of all-out war on Ukraine, one city drove Russian forces off its land only to have them return to try to occupy the sky. A warning - this story contains sounds of explosions. Here's NPR's Joanna Kakissis with the first of a two-part story.
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: When Russian troops stormed into the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson four years ago, they came with tanks and guns.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE)
KAKISSIS: The Ukrainians grabbed their guns too.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE)
KAKISSIS: They chopped down trees and used the wood as barricades to block Russian tanks, but Russian troops broke through.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: And soon, Ukrainian TV news bulletins announced that Russia had occupied the city. Olha Chupikova watched it all from the roof of a nine-story building in Kherson, counting the Russian tanks crossing the bridge into her city. And she told herself...
OLHA CHUPIKOVA: (Through interpreter) I will never accept this occupation. I will make sure we fight it.
KAKISSIS: So she became a spy and it helped that she did not look like one. With her pale blue eyes, pixie cut and sensible sweaters, she looks more like the mom next door. She monitored Russian troop movements in the city and sent the intel to Ukraine's military...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting in non-English language).
KAKISSIS: ...Who then drove the Russian soldiers out of Kherson by the end of 2022, but the celebrations did not last long. Russian troops regrouped across Dnipro River, less than a mile away from Kherson. They soon began hitting the city with rockets and mortars, and by 2024, Chupikova noticed something new.
CHUPIKOVA: (Through interpreter) When the drones started coming, it became clear that survival would be a challenge.
KAKISSIS: She is talking about first-person view, or FPV, drones. They're small, cheap and have livestreaming cameras that show their targets. They often carry grenades.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRONE BUZZING)
KAKISSIS: A local politician posted this video of an FPV drone chasing somebody's van, then exploding behind it.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRONE EXPLODING)
KAKISSIS: Chupikova's son, Dmytro, a Ukrainian soldier, told her Russian troops were navigating these FPV drones from the other side of the river and using them to hunt people in Kherson.
CHUPIKOVA: (Through interpreter) I remember my neighbor saw a drone chasing an 11-year-old boy like he was a rabbit. It dropped explosives nearby, and it wounded him.
KAKISSIS: With dark humor, the locals called the Russian drone hunts the human safari.
CHUPIKOVA: (Through interpreter) The Russians decided that they would make life hell for us and see how long we would last.
KAKISSIS: Over the next several months, Russian FPV drones chased down and killed several civilians, including a cancer researcher, a water delivery driver and a businessman on a cigarette break.
(SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS)
KAKISSIS: Chupikova never left home without a portable drone detector that her son had given her. It's about the size of an iPhone. It finds the signal that a drone emits and vibrates when it is nearby. The detector saved her life in late 2024 as she and her husband drove home from work.
CHUPIKOVA: (Through interpreter) We saw the drone, and we were able to speed away. So instead of dropping a grenade, it just crashed into our rear window.
KAKISSIS: The drone did not explode, but then another one appeared.
CHUPIKOVA: (Through interpreter) The Russians seemed to be watching our route. So we turned around and drove back into the city.
KAKISSIS: They drove their battered car to a friend's house and moved into a spare room. She kept driving the car to work...
(SOUNDBITE OF VEHICLE RUNNING)
KAKISSIS: ...Where she landscapes the city's parks. At the park where we met her last year, she clipped her drone detector to her bulletproof vest. It was windy and cloudy that day, bad flying weather for drones. So after work, Chupikova decided it was safe for us to drive to the cemetery.
(SOUNDBITE OF CAR DOOR CLOSING)
KAKISSIS: Her son, Dymtro, is buried there. He was killed on the front line. He was 25. The night before he died, he sent her a voice message...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DYMTRO: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: ...And he told her he was OK. Chupikova showed me her phone and her messages to Dymtro.
CHUPIKOVA: (Through interpreter) I know it sounds insane, but I keep sending them, even though he will never read them.
(Non-English language spoken, crying).
KAKISSIS: We passed dozens of fresh graves. A sea of blue and yellow Ukrainian flags flapped in the wind. When we reached Dymtro's tombstone, his mother gripped it and leaned on me. It was hard not to cry.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: Do you come see him a lot?
CHUPIKOVA: (Crying) Yeah. (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: Soon, the clouds parted and the wind slowed down - drone weather. Time to go.
(SOUNDBITE OF CAR RUNNING)
KAKISSIS: The threat of Russian drone hunts has transformed life in Kherson. Hospitals, schools, even playgrounds have moved to basements.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
KAKISSIS: Residents relocated to neighborhoods like this one, where fewer drones are flying. A busker played for tips near a cafe...
(SOUNDBITE OF CAR RUNNING)
KAKISSIS: ...Where Roman Vaschenko and his wife, Anastasiia Kravets, pulled up in their Honda Rebel. Despite the constant threat of drones, they're meeting their motorcycle club here to go on a ride.
ROMAN VASCHENKO: We're trying to be more careful, but of course, we are all a little bit in risk.
KAKISSIS: Kravets nodded at the word risk.
ANASTASIIA KRAVETS: If you take this responsibility on you that you will go there, you need to understand if you will survive or not. But when we are - like now, it's going to be bang again. Don't be afraid.
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSION)
KRAVETS: Yes.
KAKISSIS: Explosions in the distance - mortars, then drones.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS)
KAKISSIS: That's normal, huh?
KRAVETS: Unfortunately, yes.
KAKISSIS: The bikers hear this all the time.
VASCHENKO: (Non-English language spoken).
KAKISSIS: So they will...
They saunter inside and order matcha lattes.
(CROSSTALK)
KAKISSIS: They wait for the attack to end as if it is a passing thunderstorm. And when the coast is clear...
(SOUNDBITE OF MOTORCYCLE REVVING ENGINE)
KAKISSIS: ...They hop on their motorcycles and ride away. Today, the bikers are still riding around Kherson even though the city has gotten even more dangerous.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRONE EXPLODING)
KAKISSIS: There are bigger drones like this one in a video recorded by a local journalist. A few days ago, I check (ph) in with Olha Chupikova.
(SOUNDBITE OF DIGGING DIRT)
KAKISSIS: She is planting oak tree saplings along a main road. She watches for drones, but she also worries about missiles and guided bombs and any new weapon the Russians could come up with.
CHUPIKOVA: (Through interpreter) Everything that can fly and explode, we've got it all, but we've learned to live with this and adapt.
KAKISSIS: Chupikova has a better drone detector now, one with a screen, and it shows her what the Russian drone operator sees.
(SOUNDBITE OF CARS DRIVING BY)
KAKISSIS: She always takes it to work, including today, as she plants the young oak trees. Four years ago, the people of Kherson chopped down trees to build barriers against Russian tanks. Now, trees are shields from Russian drones.
CHUPIKOVA: (Through interpreter) That's why I'm rushing to plant them now. So they will grow, and we can have more protection.
KAKISSIS: And then the screen of her drone detector flashes. She stops planting. A drone is heading her way.
Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Kherson, Ukraine. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor MessageBecome an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1167:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(323)},323:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(84)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1140),c(116),c(94),c(52),c(493),c(239),c(102),c(104),c(1141),c(143),c(1142),c(238),c(48),c(1143)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1167,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();