In wartime Ukraine, wary Kherson residents watch the skies for drones

Olga Chernyshova's family runs a grocery store in the port city of Kherson in southern Ukraine.

It sits close to the Dnipro River, across from the front line of the all-out war that has upended life in Ukraine for nearly three years.

Since Russia launched its invasion, the family's store has been flooded after a dam collapse and damaged by incendiary shelling. It has become increasingly hard just to get to the store safely amid ongoing wartime dangers — including hostile drones.

In a close call last month, Chernyshova was unloading her vehicle outside her home, when she heard the sound of an approaching Russian drone that dropped an explosive and struck her car. 

The drone threat is well understood by Chernyshova and others living in Kherson — previously occupied by Russian forces, which are still nearby.

"Kherson is very close to the Russians, so they can get there with drones," said Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker who hails from Odesa, also in southern Ukraine. 

Drones have been critical for out-gunned and out-manned Ukraine as it tries to push back the Russian invasion. Ukraine has used a wide array of drones to strike targets — some close to the front lines, some far inside Russian territory.

But it has also had to defend against the drones Russia sends, which have proven lethal for soldiers and civilians alike — including in Kherson, where Chernyshova lives and works, but also in other parts of the region.

In the first week of October, Kherson Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin's Telegram account shared news of a 69-year-old woman who died after a drone attack on a shuttle bus in Antonivka and of a 75-year-old woman and two men in their 50s also killed by drones in other parts of Kherson region.

Tymofiy Mylovanov, an economist and former Ukrainian government minister, says civilians in these areas are dealing with the drone threats in different ways.

"They hide, stay away from the areas where the drones have been noticed or leave altogether," said Mylovanov.

For Chernyshova, her daily routine involves paying close attention to the skies above. 

She told CBC News via a translator that she and her family listen for the warning signs of approaching drones and then hastily drive to their destination — including when getting to their store.

She also said she sometimes hides from drones under the cover under trees when meeting others outside.