Building with drones: remaking war-racked Ukraine

Ukraine’s Defence Minister, Oleksii Rezniko, has called for the deployment of hundreds of thousands of drones, to help his soldiers fight off the Russian invasion of his country. But while social media is full of footage of these unmanned aerial vehicles being used in combat, a new project in Ukraine involving the University of East London aims to use drones in a very different way.

A team from UEL’s Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), in conjunction with Ukraine’s Cherkasy State Technological University (ChSTU), is working on a project to use drones to map war-damaged buildings, with the ultimate aim of rebuilding the country’s shattered infrastructure.

The research project works with students to conduct rapid assessments of affected structures, using small survey drones. If successful, these assessments will help construction organisations and the government to reconstruct the buildings once the war is over.

Alan Chandler, the SRI’s co-director, commented that working with his colleagues at Cherkasy had been truly eye-opening. He said, 

“Liudmyla Usyk, the ChSTU project liaison officer and her team have gained the confidence of the authorities which has opened up new possibilities for the project. The resulting images show the consequences of the invasion, but also the resilience and determination of the staff and students of Cherkasy to make a positive difference.”

Students at the Ukrainian university have learnt how to fly small drones and use them to collect image data of buildings. They then construct 3D models of the buildings using that data, with the models used to assess damage to buildings caused by Russian attacks. The whole process can be seen at a website and a YouTube channel, set up by the students to document their work.

Emil Faure, the Vice-Rector for Research and International Relations at ChSTU reflected on the drone programme and the future of Ukraine. He said, “The project has laid the foundation for scaling its results, as well as for the use of drones to create geoinformation systems, perform energy audits of infrastructure facilities, geodetic surveying, and cartography. The plans for future implementation of the project results are ambitious but still realistic. With faith in victory, we are working towards strengthening British-Ukrainian relations and building inter-institutional links for a peaceful future.”

Initially, it was only possible to survey buildings once permission was gained from the military authorities in Cherkasy oblast. But an agreement was recently reached with the authorities in Kyiv oblast to allow the students access to damaged houses and apartment blocks in Bucha, Irpin, Gostomel, Gorenka and Borodianka, so they have carried out aerial photography and modelling at these locations too. The resulting 3D models are currently being reviewed to assess how useful they are to identify and diagnose building damage.

Sam Jelliman, Research Assistant at the SRI, commented that he was proud to help build a brighter future for Ukraine. He said, “Our partners in Cherkasy have given fantastic opportunities to their students to become leaders in drone-enabled building damage assessments, caused by Russia’s invasion. This project is only the first step in a future of cooperation and exchange between the UK and Ukraine and between UEL and ChSTU.”

After the initial project is completed, it’s hoped that a large number of volunteers across Ukraine will be trained to use drones to conduct building surveys, with the 3D models then assessed by experts both within Ukraine and abroad. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, cities and towns across the country have suffered immense destruction. A March 2023 report from the World Bank found the cost of direct damage to buildings and infrastructure in Ukraine came to more than US$135 billion, with almost two million homes damaged or destroyed. Nine months on, those figures are certain to be significantly higher.