A US veteran who fought in Ukraine says drones are ‘horrendous’ for soldiers’ morale

AUSveteranwhofoughtinUkrainesaidthatthescaleofdronesinthewaristerriblefortroops’morale,andthatsoldierssometimeswon’tseeadronecominginclearblueskiesbeforeitkillsthem. CarlLarson,anIraqveteranwhowasborninSeattleandservedinUkraine’sInternationalLegion,saidthatthehugepresenceofdronesis“ahorrendousdetrimenttomorale.” “Ican’tspeakfortheRussianside,butontheUkrainianside,it’sincrediblycorrosivetoyourabilitytoconductcombatoperations,”hesaidatadroneconferencelastweek. “Youcan’tleaveyourblindage,yourbunker,atleastnotduringtheday,”headded. Larsonsaidthat“anyonewho’sbeenunderartillerybarrageknowshownegativethatistoyourmentalwell-beingandhowmanysoldiers,seeminglystrong-mindedsoldiers,can’thandlethatsortofstress.” Healsosaidhelost“goodfriends”inUkraine“thatdiedfromhavingagrenadeexplodenexttothe