Drones can lay mines, deliver everything from ammunition to medication and even evacuate wounded or dead soldiers. Crucially, drones spot any movement along the front line and are dispatched to strike enemy troops and vehicles.

Authorities said the boy died following a strike on a village in Kherson amid Russia's increased bombardment of Ukrainian cities.

Officials say a Russian drone barrage has targeted the center of Kharkiv, injuring nine people and damaging a maternity hospital in Ukraine's second-largest city.