Ukraine is Now Hunting Russian Drone Pilots

Key Points and Summary – In a significant tactical shift, Ukraine’s military is now actively hunting Russian drone pilots to establish aerial dominance on the drone-saturated battlefield.

-This new strategy is being led by Robert Brovdi (call sign “Madyar”), the recently appointed head of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces.

His approach involves embedding fixed FPV drone detachments along the entire front line to first neutralize Russian drones and then use all available assets, including HIMARS missile strikes, to eliminate the drone operators themselves.

-This “Israel-like” operation aims to cripple Russia’s critical reconnaissance and strike capabilities by targeting the skilled personnel behind the machines.

Ukraine Now Hunting Russian Battlefield Drone Pilots

The number one and most widely discussed development in warfare to come out of the conflict in Ukraine has been the increasing role played by drones.

These unmanned, remotely piloted air vehicles have become the leading cause of casualties and equipment loss on the battlefield.

The latest numbers also credit them with being responsible for 70 per cent or more of the deaths of Ukrainian civilians.

The drones are part of a larger Ukrainian strategy in which Kyiv implements asymmetrical initiatives against Russian forces.

The first example seen only a few weeks into the war was the beginning of what has become the destruction of the Russian Black Sea Fleet by Ukraine, a country that has no real navy of its own.

This latter point was emphasized recently by Dr. Zbigniew Pisarski, the Director of the Fundacja im. Kazimierza in an interview earlier this month.

According to Euromaidan Press, an independent English-language news website launched in 2014 by volunteers from Ukraine, the latest Russian vessel destroyed three days ago in the Black Sea is the 28th of Moscow’s ships or boats taken out by Ukraine since the start of Putin’s full-scale invasion.

The first of those 28 “dominos” to fall was the Black Sea Fleet’s flagship, the guided missile cruiser Moskva.  The ship was destroyed in the early days of the war in 2022 by employing a combination of drones and Ukraine’s own indigenously designed R-360 Neptune anti-ship missile (ASM) – creating no small level of embarrassment for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Israel-Like Operations: Hunting Russian Drone Pilots

Russia’s former Defense Minister, Andriy Zagorodnyuk, is now the Director of the Centre for Defence Strategies in Kyiv, one of the most well-thought-of think tanks of its kind in Ukraine.

In a recently released extended essay proposing an overall axisymmetric strategic orientation towards Russia, he explained how previous Ukrainian operations represent real-world examples of how this strategy would be implemented in practice, albeit on a broader scale.

The latest of these developments now has the Ukrainian military seeking out and destroying not just ships or tanks or enemy combatants, but Russia’s drone pilots as well.

“Operation Spiderweb is another example of how we need to use technological and strategic methods to cause very expensive and advanced parts of the Russian military to fail in their ability to undertake its missions,” reads Zagorodnyuk’s essay.

“If we can do this, we can at the same time start building up the institutions of our state and economy while under Russian threat.  This has happened with other states such as Israel.”

The latest Ukraine-Israel-like operations also relate specifically to another aspect of drone warfare.

In a recent development, Russian military bloggers are apparently commenting on the significant impact of Ukraine’s Robert Brovdi, who is known by his call sign, Madya, and his impact on the front lines.

Hunting Russian Drone Operators

In late May, Brovdi was made head of the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine.

His new strategy is to embed fixed UAV detachments along every stretch of the front line, staffed by drone pilots who are intimately familiar with their designated area of deployment.

This contrasts with the previous practice of relying on roving reserve forces that are intended to be dispatched in response to emerging threats.

This creates an unbroken kill corridor across the entire front. These are defenses not based on traditional fortifications, such as trenches or troop numbers, but instead are based on FPV drone warfare. But central to this model, says Brovdi – and this is his latest innovation – is first to achieve aerial dominance with his drone force.

What that means in practice is neutralizing the Russian drone systems, depriving them of their surveillance and strike capacity, and then, most importantly, prioritizing the elimination of the drone operators themselves.

According to Russian accounts, Brovdi has been given the expanded operational scope to do precisely that.

That includes him now having command authority for almost the complete menu of Ukraine’s military arsenal.

This includes his ability to call in HIMARS missile strikes on any positions where the presence of Russian drone pilots is suspected.

General Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told reporters that Brovdi’s leadership is already yielding results. “He is an experienced man with vast experience, who went through the war as a volunteer, platoon, company, battalion, regiment, brigade commander, and now he is the commander of this new kind of troops.”

Russian sources report a reduction in strikes on Russian supply lines and rear echelons, attributing it to the Ukrainian pivot towards hunting down enemy UAV teams.

At his underground base, drone operators—known as “Madyar’s Birds”—work 12-hour shifts monitoring live drone feeds.

The walls of the underground facility are covered with destroyed or captured Russian UAVs, including a battered Merlin reconnaissance drone that can fly up to 400 miles, according to interview with the Times of London.

Brovdi’s unit also benefits from a video-game-like, performance-based incentive program. Crews earn points for confirmed kills and equipment strikes—six for a soldier, 40 for a tank—which can be exchanged for new gear.

Digital Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told Politico that Brovdi’s team has already accumulated enough points to receive more than 1,100 new drones.

About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson

Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs and Director of the Asian Research Centre with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw.  He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design.  Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.