Ukraine's deadliest drone pilot: Oleksandr “Majeur” and his “Force Majeur” team – The Guardian

He told The Guardian about the way profiteers are hampering the Ukrainian war effort.

Oleksandr, 32, was an IT professional before the invasion. Today, his name is synonymous with destruction, having taken out an impressive 20 pieces of deadly Russian hardware, including tanks, combat infantry vehicles, armored personnel carriers, and more. He has rendered six tanks and ten armored vehicles inoperable, the article notes.

“I haven’t met anyone who has destroyed more,” he reluctantly admitted.

Recently, near the village of Robotyne in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, Oleksandr's explosive-packed drones killed two Russian soldiers and injured six more in a fortified trench position. It highlights the danger and tension on the frontline as Ukraine's counter-offensive forces navigate through a hostile landscape of tripwires and anti-personnel and anti-armour mines.

Despite the devastating impact of his drones, he said that “war is nothing to boast about.” 

Instead, he complained that Ukraine's Defense Ministry announced new first-person view drones, but Oleksandr and his colleagues haven't received any from official sources. He builds his drones using components purchased online from China, funded by anonymous donors, at a lower cost than other military units pay.

“We can win this war with drones,” says Olexsandr. “And yet the Russian drive to build them in their thousands and provide them cheaply to the frontline is not being replicated on the Ukrainian side,” the article notes.

“It is why even now I am not joining the Armed Forces – if you join, the commander can be a fool and not know how to conduct quality operations,” he says. “I’m very effective by myself. I am ready to fight until the end of the war like this. According to official information, Russia produces 3,000 drones from the plants. In Ukraine, some small rich tsars [profiteering businessmen] produce these drones for selling, volunteer funds buy them and then charge them $650 a drone.”

Before February 2022, Oleksandr had little drone experience, but he “wanted to find something where he could be most useful.” Now he operates solo on reconnaissance missions or in teams of three to four (known as “Force Majeur”) with kamikaze drones.

Oleksandr approaches his daunting task with a relaxed attitude. “It’s like playing a computer game, you know?” he says. He believes anyone can do it with the right mindset.