Military technology’s environmental impact: A bird’s nest made of fibre-optic cable

A researcher shows a bird’s nest containing fragments of fibre-optic cable collected near the front line during Russia’s war against Ukraine, in Kyiv. | Photo Credit: Reuters A bird’s nest found near Ukraine’s front line has caught the attention of researchers, not because of the bird that built it but because of what it was made from. Mixed in with the usual twigs, grass and small branches were strands of fibre-optic cable, the same kind now used by military drones flying over some of the most fiercely contested parts of the battlefield.Birds have always built nests with whatever they can find. Plastic bags, bits of cloth, fishing line and electrical wire have all been found woven into nests in different parts of the world. But military-grade fibre-optic cable is something researchers have not seen before. Published - July 09, 2026 07:34 am IST