At a metalworking workshop in the industrial city of Krivy Rih in southern Ukraine, a homemade anti-drone system awaits to be installed on military transport.
The contraption - a heavy machine gun welded to a steel tube - was one of the many DIY kits that were a valuable addition to the Ukrainian war effort.
"We have the skills and the equipment, and we have a lot of ideas," said Sergey Bondarenko at a workshop near the southern front.
The 39-year-old, well-built man with a long black beard is the commander of the Ukrainian army's state defense division.
Bondarenko told AFP alongside the anti-drone prototype that the weapon would be equipped with shock absorbers for greater stability and accuracy.
The former engineer explained that there was nothing like this in the Ukrainian arsenal, mostly in Soviet times when drones were not yet known.
He said he had been fighting Russia since 2014. "We had some problems that we didn't expect," he said.
For several weeks, Russian-deployed Iranian fighter jets have been attacking southern cities such as Krivi Rih, terrorizing the population.
"The brigade commander told me: we need a solution. There are machine guns. That's all," Bondarenko said with a smile.
The heavy machine gun can hit targets at a distance of 6,000 meters (19,685 feet), much higher than the altitude at which the drone flies.
Its units can even replace lost anti-drone artillery, anti-drone artillery, and other expensive anti-aircraft defenses.
Ukraine was "impressed by his skills," Bondarenko said.
He added, "We can make motanka (cloth dolls), 'vyshyvankas' (embroidered clothes) and machine guns, sing beautiful songs and ... kill hundreds of Russians."
In a field outside the city, Yevgeny, nicknamed "Badger", drives a 30-year-old Mercedes SUV equipped with multiple rocket launchers.
The four barrels of these weapons came from a Russian "Grad" missile destroyed by the Ukrainian army.
Waves act as turrets while missiles are delivered as Czech or Italian.
"We are satisfied with what we have," said Badger, who helped build the seven-foot-tall giant.
"If we don't support ourselves (first), no one will help us," he said.
In Since the Russian invasion on February 24, many Ukrainian civilians have joined their "defenders".
Individuals donate cars and salaries, companies donate profits, and sometimes military-powered trucks appear on camera.
"Ukrainian do-it-yourself vehicles" did not have a "significant impact" on the conflict, but in a way that allowed them to "harass Russia," said Paris-based analyst Pierre Grazer.
"They arouse sympathy and serve as an example of mobilizing the whole country," said Grazer, a Russian defense expert.
Meanwhile, Vitaly Bryzgalov began to make general-purpose military vehicles for the army.
Inside his little garage, the action-packed atmosphere is reminiscent of hit 1980s TV shows like The A-Team and MacGyver, when a dozen workers frantically cut, dipped, and dodged pipes and metal parts.
The classic Lada engine is a valuable vehicle for its low weight, costing only 2,000 euros, ten times cheaper than a new civilian car.
So far, 30 trains are combat-ready, with dozens more in production and ready to be upgraded with a variety of weapons.
A photo on Bryzgalov's cell phone shows one of his wagons with a Javelin missile system welded to soldiers.
"I will do everything so that we can win quickly ... even if people have to die," said the quiet and weak Russian side.
"I've been very strong since the war started," he said.
