Western politicians unclear on concept of “drone wall”, expert notes

That’s what Valeriy Borovyk, founder of the drone manufacturer First Contact and a serviceman in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on Espreso.

“First of all, we must build our wall. Not just build — we must create it, make it a fact. It’s clear it has to exist. For Ukraine it is critically important that it stands on the contact line now, and later on the state border when we push them out,” he said.

Borovyk outlined what that wall should consist of.

“From interceptor drones, from air-defense systems, from drones that will attack the enemy’s drone launch sites, will strike various drone-production capacities, and the work done to finish and repair them — which takes place not far from the contact line. From enemy basing points, from enemy pilots. All these sites and targets must fall within the reach of the means that will be in Ukraine,” the serviceman stressed.

He added that, when we talk about a wall together with our partners, we must understand that we are talking about the same thing.

“Because it seems to me that partners still do not have a complete picture of what this will be. Western partners say different things: some say you must respond to Russians and shoot them down as soon as they enter NATO airspace; others say nothing. So far they only note that such problems exist and that Article 4 of NATO has been activated for consultations. But as for an actual decision, the other side remains rather restrained, even though they are actively working in this direction,” Borovyk said.

The expert said some preparations are already underway in Poland.

“I was recently in Poland and I know that the state bodies responsible for procuring equipment are — I would say — feverishly starting to look at which EW (electronic warfare) systems to buy, from which companies, what air-defense and detection means. We know about a German component, about a Turkish component they want to buy. Work is under way to ensure a Ukrainian element is also present. Among Western politicians there is mainly less clarity; perhaps among military circles there is more,” he shared.

In his view, politicians still lack a clear picture of what the wall will be and how it will function.

“One nuance here: you can build a good defense system. The question is who will — and how quickly they will — make the decision to activate that defense system. Who will give the order and take responsibility to press the 'launch' button, like it was 10 years ago, when a Russian fighter that had crossed into Turkish airspace while operating over Syria was shot down and neutralized within minutes. After that, there were no more incursions. So who in European capitals will take that decision — that is a political decision,” Borovyk summed up.

• EU Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius said he intends to hold talks with defense ministers this week about creating a “drone wall” along the EU’s eastern border. He later added that the EU will use Ukraine’s experience to build such a drone wall.