Pentagon leaks? Ukrainians more focused on must-win battle.

With an expected Ukrainian spring counteroffensive looming, military drone pilots work on their targeting in a training camp ringed by forests.

Again and again, to simulate an on-the-fly attack on Russian troops and trenches, the soldiers attach dummy grenades to a small flying drone, fly it to altitude, then release the dud ordnance while in motion.

Again and again, the grenades thud into the moist earth near the target, prompting cheers or jeers from fellow troops, as they prepare for the high-stakes battle to come.

These light infantry volunteer soldiers of the 500-strong Dnipro-1 battalion say they are not deterred by the fact that the counteroffensive will be a critical inflection point in a war that began with Russia’s invasion 14 months ago. Nor, they say, by the fact that roughly 70% of their ranks –