They are the battlefield innovators who have taken Ukraine’s fight against Vladimir Putin’s war machine deep inside Russia.
A Ukrainian drone operator has given a rare insight into the high stakes game of striking targets up to 2,000km (1,242m) behind enemy lines.
Far from being detached from the reality of the fighting, the 14th Unmanned Aerial Systems Regiment is a prized target for Russian air strikes. In the regiment’s eyes, failure can often mean death.
‘Nobody wants an Iskander ballistic missile to smack into their face,’ an operator with the codename Shrek tells Metro.
The unit was formed in 2022 by Special Operations Forces veterans, including an officer with the nickname Fidel, part of a battle group which was first to strike the enemy’s deep rear with drones, and another with the alias ‘Casper’, previously with the 73rd Naval Centre of Operations.
Now part of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), the high-tech regiment operates virtually all of the unmanned aerial systems (UAS) types in existence.
Shrek spoke before Donald Trump froze military aid and intelligence co-operation with Ukraine, but there is no question that the battlefield innovators will fight on from the skies, come what may.
In their favour is an ‘adapt or die’ ethos and a burgeoning drone production industry that is one of the more resilient parts of the country’s defence industrial base.
‘We fly FPV [first-person view] and ISR [intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance] drones, strike UAVs such as Switchblade 600, deep strike systems, and so on, both provided by our partners and made domestically,’ Shrek explains.
‘I’m proud to say that our unit started in 2022 as the very first experimental battalion specializing in unmanned systems worldwide.
‘The know-how we developed and spread has already changed the nature of our battlefield and 21st Century warfare in general.’
Spectacular hits by Ukrainian drone operators include one on a large ammunition warehouse in Toropets, Tver Oblast, around 380km (236m) inside Russia. The huge arsenal was ‘literally wiped off the face of the Earth’ according to a Security Service of Ukraine source who spoke to the Kyiv Independent.
‘Nowhere is safe for the operators’
On Friday, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived back in Ukraine following his highly charged trips to the White House and London, explosions rocked the Ufimsky oil refinery in Ufa, a city near the Ural mountains, around 1,400km inside Russia.
The blasts were so strong locals thought an earthquake had struck, with flames rising above the city’s skyline as it burned overnight.
The strike, like many others targeting fuel plants, was not claimed by Ukraine, although the military and security arms have often reacted to reports with wry comments.
Referring to typical Russian reports blaming damage to facilities on falling debris from shot-down drones, Shrek remarks, ‘Ukrainian-made debris appears to be very explosive.’
He also revealed the meticulous planning and danger involved with each mission — even though he is not hunkered down on the frontline.
The 14th’s permanent location is in Dnipro, with Shrek and his comrades living remotely within the eastern city or nearby.
‘A deep strike drone operator may sound like a comfortable job — I’m not in a cold trench at the frontline shooting Russians with my rifle, after all,’ he says. ‘But it’s not that easy at all.
‘With enemy recon drones in our airspace, nowhere is safe for an operator, and we’re a high-priority target because we’re efficient.
‘Every operation is organized very scrupulously: we take our time picking our targets based on intel, we carefully plan routes to the launch sites and for exfiltration, we move stealthily even though it’s our own territory.
‘Nobody wants an Iskander ballistic missile to smack into their face, you know — and they fly really fast.’
Havoc deep behind enemy lines
At least eight Russian war planes were damaged or destroyed in an attack on Saky airbase. The site lies more than 100 miles from the frontline.
Attacks take place on two air bases deep inside Russia. Heavy bombers are damaged in what is said to be Ukraine’s most daring operation at that point.
A large fire breaks out at the facility in the southern Russian city of Tuapse, Two drones exploded at the terminal in the early hours, according to local reports.
The sky was lit up with apocalyptic colours after an attack on the repeatedly-hit Steel Horse oil facility, which supplies Russia’s armed forces, in the Oryol region.
Military-industrial facilities across a vast span of Russia, including the Engels air base, are targeted in what Kyiv says is the largest drone attack of the war to date.
The 14th and other Ukrainian units hit the ‘Kremniy El’ microelectronics factory in Bryansk. The regiment says that 90% of the facility’s production goes to Russia’s military industry.
Explosions rock the facility in Ufa, a city near the Ural mountains 1,400 miles inside Russia. The Bashneft-owned plant processes 168,000 barrels of oil a day.
‘It’s nothing like the war movies’
Social media videos of huge explosions lighting up the night sky and barely plausible accounts of ‘falling debris’ from Russian authorities are the open source results of a mission accomplished.
Behind the scenes, there’s no time for ‘big celebrations’ in a war that is now in its fourth year, just a sense of satisfaction at a job well done.
‘As for the focus, well, I’m doing my job,’ Shrek says.
‘You’re not sleeping during your office hours, are you?
‘Sure, there’s anticipation of a big hit every time, partially that’s what keeps me going. When the hit goes through, it’s 100% worth any fatigue.’
Asked if there’s any similarity between the 14th’s workplace and the ‘ops rooms’ seen in action movies, where surgical strikes are monitored on big screens by intel and military types, Shrek says the enemy is more likely to reveal the details.
‘No, no, it’s nothing like war movies, actually,’ he says.
‘How do we know? Russians tell us themselves: once there’s a big hit somewhere in their territory, their socials are booming with photos and videos of the strike.
‘Their officials usually write it off as “our air defence shot down everything, that’s just debris” — well, Ukrainian-made debris appears to be very explosive.’
The operative was asked by Metro what it was like seeing a successful hit, which often has devastating results that can be seen for days.
‘What do I feel? Satisfaction for a job well done, I guess,’ he replies.
‘The enemy’s hurt, and we’re one step closer to victory.
‘There’s no time for big celebrations though, that’s for after we win.’
Shrek confirmed the astonishing leap that Kyiv’s UAS forces have made in taking the fight deep inside Russia’s lawful borders.
‘They’re good, but we’re better’
Experimental drones produced back in 2022 when the regiment was founded were only able to hit targets 120km away.
Today, the 14th, working alongside other Ukrainian military and security formations, can strike targets at a range of up to 2,000km over the border.
‘I believe Ukraine currently has the largest UAV fleet and the most advanced UAS technology in the world,’ Shrek says.
‘We have no other option but to improve our tech day by day, and luckily our civilian engineers and inventors are eager to help us out.
‘As for avoiding enemy air defence, two things: one, we don’t underestimate the enemy — they’re good, but we’re better.
‘Two, every deep strike is a very complex operation involving various AFU units, with different areas of responsibility.
‘The strike itself is just the tip of the arrow, and the metaphorical bow is a whole lot of meticulous coordination and a bit of luck.’
The results have proved costly for Putin’s military infrastructure, hitting the fuel plants and other facilities funding the war and keeping the Kremlin’s war machine moving. In the strategically valuable western Black Sea region, air and sea drones have helped push out Russia’s far superior naval fleet and reopen the grain shipping route.
In a report for the Atlantic Council think-tank, Victoria Vdovychenko and Alexander Khara conclude that drones could ‘seriously degrade Russia’s essential military capabilities and impact the course of the war.’
While the 14th operates across the front, including in the Kursk salient, the long-range strikes are a ‘cost-efficient way’ of disrupting Moscow’s ability to continue supplying the all-out attack.
‘Failure too often means death’
‘Deep strike operations are integral to this know-how,’ Shrek says.
‘It is an efficient way of striking the enemy’s deep rear, way beyond the immediate line of contact, while also preserving the lives of the operators.
‘A deep strike’s goal is usually strategic: instead of targeting enemy troops directly, we disrupt their logistics, destroy their supplies, and demolish their production lines, causing them much more indirect damage.
‘It is a way of compensating for our lack of old-school strategic aviation — a much more cost-efficient way, I might add.’
As the White House holds America’s military support in the balance, the regiment’s mantra of adapt or die will undoubtedly keep it in the fight.
British support may also become even more critical, with the ally and Lativa co-leading a coalition supporting Kyiv’s UAS warfare component.
‘Well, to me this war is all about you adapt, develop and grow or you fail,’ Shrek says.
‘You manage to invent previously unheard of ways of hurting the enemy — or you fail.
‘You keep developing this tech, accounting for the enemy’s adaptation — or you fail. And failure here too often means death.
‘As our regiment’s commander “Charlie” likes to say, “you gotta do what you can where you are with what you have.”
‘We push the limits of what we have until these limits break.’
The UK Ministry of Defence announced today that the government has signed a deal with an Anglo-American defence company to provide Ukraine’s armed forces with more advanced attack drones to tackle Russian aggression in the Black Sea.
Defence Secretary John Healey said the work with Anduril UK was part of ‘putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position to prevent any return to Russian aggression’ after a ‘secure’ peace.
Mr Healey added: ‘With a £2.26 billion loan from seized Russian assets, plus £1.6 billion worth of air defence missiles announced for Ukraine in the last week, the UK is continuing to show leadership in securing a lasting peace for Ukraine.’
Do you have a story you would like to share? Contact josh.layton@metro.co.uk
