Ukrainian Volunteers Sew Anti-Thermal Ponchos to Protect Soldiers From Drones

As aerial reconnaissance reshapes the battlefield, a small workshop in Kovel has turned its focus from general military supplies to manufacturing specialized concealment gear. The group, operating under the name Diyemo Vze (Actuamos ahora), stitches synthetic camouflage and insulation materials into roomy ponchos designed to mask human body heat from enemy operators scanning the landscape.

How Anti-Drone Ponchos Mask Body Heat on the Frontline

Russian forces rely heavily on drones equipped with thermal-imaging cameras, which hover continuously over what soldiers call the zona de la muerte (zone of death), that now extends across kilometers on both sides of the front. These thermal devices, paired with standard video cameras, allow operators of unmanned apparatuses to detect and attack soldiers who are often forced to walk kilometers, for hours or even days, to reach positions without being detected.

Natalia Tjorzevska explains that they cannot drive to positions right at the edge of the contact line because any vehicle is destroyed, meaning they have to walk, which is where the greatest risk lies. The risk is greater at night, because the temperature contrast is more pronounced and soldiers can appear on screens as red patches cut out against a colder background. However, these capes ensure that for drones flying at altitudes of between 50 and 100 meters, the target is obscured. To counter this, the volunteers construct garments featuring a thermal-insulation layer and a transparent face shield at face level, alongside large, spacious ponchos with long sleeves and a hood. The design prevents most of the heat emitted by the human body from escaping so that enemy drones equipped with thermal cameras cannot easily detect those wearing them.

Natalia Tjorzevska, leader of Diyemo Vze, notes that this layer is very multifunctional, highly lightweight, and therefore very easy to carry from one place to another.

Olena Rizko, a 53-year-old civil volunteer, notes that this thermal insulation sheet blocks red light and makes the soldier look like a bush or a tree by blending in with the shadow. The fundamental thing is that nothing red is seen in the drone image, because the heat, in red color, gives away the location of their boys. Weighing less than a kilogram, the capes allow soldiers to move quickly, squat down to shrink their profile, or react the moment they hear an oncoming drone. Volunteers also adapt the exterior color prints to match changing seasons and local terrain, ensuring daytime concealment from standard optical cameras.

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Inside the Kovel Workshop Led by Natalia Tjorzevska

The workshop is driven by a tightly knit team of women who maintain a steady output despite relying on crowdfunding campaigns to purchase materials. A dozen women work in a small room to attend to the latest orders from the front, where combat continues without interruption, with some spreading layers of synthetic camouflage material and thermal insulation material while others sew them into large, spacious ponchos. Natalia Tjorzevska, a 54-year-old high school Ukrainian language and literature teacher, oversees the collective as its leader.

Natalia Tjorzevska, teacher and volunteer leader, states that they used to manufacture different types of items needed for their soldiers, but now they focus on these capes because it is a drone war.

Commercial manufacturing falls short of frontline demand and often lacks practical design features. By maintaining direct communication with troops on the ground, the volunteer team quickly iterates on feedback from actual combat zones, receiving constant feedback about their usefulness since the beginning of the large-scale invasion. The small workshop currently turns out roughly one hundred ponchos a week and has surpassed a total production of 2,000 units.

Personal Stakes and Evacuations Under Swarming Drones

For the women sewing the ponchos, the work is deeply personal. Oleksandra Samokha, a displaced accountant from Zaporiyia who visits the workshop to help produce anti-drone ponchos, notes that her husband has spent more than four years fighting in the war.

Oleksandra Samokha, accountant and volunteer, expresses that she cannot understand how anyone can stand idly by without helping the army, noting they constantly receive messages from soldiers, that her husband has been fighting for over four years, and that she sees how tired they are and how much they need their support and equipment.

Beyond routine patrols, troops rely on the protective gear during high-risk movements and casualty evacuations. Because soldiers frequently spend extended periods living in underground fortifications, the ponchos provide a critical margin of safety when personnel must brief above ground or carry injured comrades to safety.

Natalia Tjorzevska points out that drones fly overhead in swarms and the chances of survival are very low if you go outside unprotected.

The collective credits the equipment with tangible results on the front line, noting that a recent mission involving thirty soldiers ended without casualties while successfully evacuating wounded peers.