Two brigades of drone pilots appear in Ukraine

An Espreso journalist visited the training and graduation.

5,000 soldiers have already learned to fly drones professionally. These are two brigades of pilots who are already performing combat missions on the battlefield. The school started its work last year in March after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. The center was opened on the basis of the 125th Territorial Defense Brigade. The head of the brigade believed in the technology and, as a result, two brigades of drone pilots will soon be working at the front.

“This is the story of the team,” says the school's co-founder, a military officer with the call sign Academician. “Last March, we opened the sky. People were laughing at us then, saying what drones, what are we talking about, it's just a toy, a tool for taking pictures, filming weddings. We implemented it into military doctrine, and we proved that it matters. We have learned how to use civilian drones to perform combat missions.”

The military is taught by experienced instructors who have experience in the war with the Russian Federation. Dmytro already has combat experience and knows how to work with a drone on the battlefield. At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, he used a UAV to destroy the occupiers in the Kyiv region.

“There was a case when we raised a drone and saw a convoy coming,” Dmytro recalls. “We raised the artillery, destroyed it, came in a bus and finished them off. That was it, the task was completed. There were 20 dead and several prisoners. We worked effectively. The 'bird' was in the sky for only five minutes.”

Ivan is learning how to achieve such success. He has been traveling to the front line as a volunteer since 2014. He carries necessary things for the military on the front line. There have been numerous requests for drones from the front line. So he decided to learn how to be the eyes of the military himself.

“Today, the drone is a device, equipment that paratroopers should have for five to eight people,” says Ivan. “In any case, there should be a small drone to scout and conduct reconnaissance. This is a necessary thing that should be in every calculation.”

“We teach the guys here the very basics,” says senior instructor Ihor Ostrovskyi. “We teach them not only how to fly, but also how to conduct reconnaissance and adjustment. We provide a lot of knowledge.”

In total, the instructors train fifty soldiers in a week. These are people from different units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. And soon they will go to the combat zone to destroy the occupying Russian forces.