In Ukraine’s war with Russia, drones have become essential tools for both warfare and border surveillance. Now, those tools and tactics from Ukraine are being deployed along the U.S.-Mexico border. AZCIR traveled to Ukraine to document how “battle-tested” drone innovations are reshaping American border enforcement, and what it means as oversight fails to keep pace. Read the full story here.

Video shot and edited by P. Nick Curran, 100 Days in Appalachia, in collaboration with the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.

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Ukraine’s ‘battle-tested’ drones are accelerating militarization along the U.S.-Mexico border

As U.S. law enforcement agencies adopt drone systems “battle-tested” in Ukraine, experts question whether existing safeguards are sufficient to govern increasing levels of surveillance on U.S. soil. The dual-purpose, military-grade technology now getting deployed in domestic border operations comes as the Trump administration devotes tens of billions of dollars to bolster security in response to…

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P. Nick Curran is a filmmaker based in Morgantown, West Virginia and Director of Video for the non-profit newsroom 100 Days in Appalachia.

Alexandra Markovich is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice for AZCIR through a partnership with Report for America.