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03.12.24 22:45 16 797 4

Pilot with call sign Zub: "We strike until head blows off or until you see that it’s definitely over"

FPV drone pilot and engineer of the Drongo UAV Strike Group of the Arei Battalion of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, Serhii, call sign Zub (Tooth), had no previous experience in the military. He did not even serve conscript service. He has always been actively involved in sports. He was a champion of Ukraine and Europe in Thai boxing.

Since 2006, he has worked in management positions. He developed his business. From the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, he volunteered but did not believe that a full-scale invasion was possible.

- The situation seemed to be under control. That's when the Minsk agreements were signed. We hoped that our partners would help us, that sanctions would work," he explains. - "I did not want to believe in a full-scale war. However, I realized that the aggressor was near, so we had to get ready. In the end, a full-scale war did break out.

- Where were you when the war broke out?

- At home in Voznesensk. We didn’t understand what was going on. On the morning of February 26, I went to our Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) unit. But they had already recruited a staff. They said that they only recruit on a contract basis. I went with my guys to guard the military registration and enlistment office. However, we performed tasks with the police. The 102 line was not working. So we went around all the communities in our district and gave them our phone numbers. We underwent a brief team training. We stayed in contact with the TDF guys. We knew who was stationed where and what tasks they were carrying out.

On March 2, we were already holding the defense near Voznesensk. It was scary. Luckily, we had the 80th Brigade, the 28th Brigade and the Arey Battalion, where we are currently serving, so we repelled the enemy's attack. Three days later, I was told that they would use Grad rocket systems, and my house is located near a military unit. So I evacuated my family and returned home. On March 11, our entire group handed over their weapons, because then we had to sign a contract. Some of us joined the service. Those who were already in the army were mobilized. Since I didn't serve, I transferred to the volunteer service. My wife's brother was fighting, so I helped his brigade. At that time, there was nothing - not even plates and plate carriers. We made our own. We also received second-hand clothes, and the girls sorted through them, because the guys didn't have spare clothing. We did everything we could! Then I went through training, to which my friends from the National Guard invited me. For six months I rode with them in battalions, learning both military affairs and tactical medicine. Since my documents were with the Territorial Recruitment Center (TRC), I knew I would be drafted there soon. By the time that happened, I was already exhausted from volunteering. In the fall of 2023, we met with the Chaplain (the commander of the Drongo UAV Strike Group - O.M.). He told us he was forming a UAV training group. That's where my story as a pilot and engineer began. We spent several months in training—starting with theory, followed by assembly practice, and finally flight operations. The group initially consisted of 14 people, but not everyone succeeded. Some chose not to continue. In the end, only four of us reached the stage of performing combat missions, and we are still working together as a team. We are volunteer fighters, meaning we do not officially serve and receive no salary. We joined the Ukrainian Volunteer Army. Under the Law on National Resistance, civilians are allowed to carry out combat missions. That’s how we ended up with the Arey Battalion, where many of our local guys have fought and continue to fight. This marked the beginning of our first combat missions. Our first deployment was to Vovchansk, where a breakthrough occurred on May 10. We worked there several times. We also operated in Pokrovsk and Kursk.

- Wait, let's talk about Kursk. Let's go back to Vovchansk, where you had your first combat missions. Tell us about them. At that time, you were a civilian who had just learned to fly, and you were sent to the front. What were your impressions?

- I compared it to March 2, 2022, when planes, helicopters, tanks, and other equipment were heading toward Voznesensk, and everything was exploding. The adrenaline was off the charts! We didn’t fully understand what we were doing. Plus, there were experienced soldiers nearby. The experience was completely different because we were caught off guard and had to act immediately. This time, however, we came consciously prepared. When we arrived in Staryi Saltiv near Vovchansk and were waiting for the commander to return from the command and observation post (COP), the air force started its operations. The noise was deafening! These explosions, the first military streams we saw, were completely different! It was a shock for me.

After the commander returned, we headed to our position. It was terrifying. A UAV hovered over us. Fortunately, as we later found out, it was a friendly one. At night, we veered into a ditch and had to jump out of the car. Eventually, we made it to our destination. We started flying. At first, there were failures—crashes, drone malfunctions, and even strikes hitting nearby houses. We went through it all emotionally, came back, and exhaled. But we wanted more. Next, we went to Ochakiv and operated on the Kinburn Spit. That’s where we had our first successes. The adrenaline was off the charts! I liked that things were working out because I was already 39 years old and worried. If my 13-year-old kid could fly a simulator within half an hour, my first FPV flights were much harder for me. When we were deciding on roles within the group, the commander asked who wanted to do what. I said, "I’ll try flying, but I also have skills in engineering, so I can help disassemble, assemble, repair, and solder drones. Basically, I’ll do whatever it takes to bring victory closer." To this day, I’m still flying FPV.

- Why did you choose FPV? There are other types of drones, such as reconnaissance or bombers.

- We have all of them! The four of us cover everything. Our Ara (pilot and driver of the Drongo UAV Strike Group – O.M.) operates the Mavic – it’s used for reconnaissance, rechecking, and adjustments, though he also performs drops. The Chaplain and I fly kamikaze drones, seven inches and up, equipped with destruct, so we can not only strike but also detonate remotely. We also use ten- and fifteen-inch bombers, mainly for cost efficiency. Today (November 15 – O.M.), we used six drones on one bastard. We’ve even given him a call sign – ‘Golden’ (smiles – O.M.). It happens. On video, it looks perfect: one drone, one tank. In reality, it’s more like one out of ten. To destroy a vehicle, you need multiple hits, targeting critical points, and then burn it from above. If it’s just damaged, the ammo and gear remain intact. You need to incinerate it until it’s like tissue paper – that’s when it’s truly destroyed. The same goes for personnel. Sometimes, you detonate near a f@cker, and he’s so high on drugs that he gets up and keeps running. Eventually, he’ll drop, but until he’s completely neutralized, it doesn’t count. Even someone lying down isn’t necessarily dead. We had a case here in Kursk where I hit a guy, and he stayed motionless for two days. On the third day, when they tried to put him into a body bag, he propped himself up on his elbow and started helping. You take out the two guys next to him, and they scatter with the debris. That’s why we keep hitting until the head’s blown off or until we’re certain they’re done for.

- Do you feel any excitement when you can’t hit the enemy right away and have to "hunt" them down?

- We don’t act on our own discretion. Orders come from the duty operational officer, who gives us instructions from headquarters on what to do or whether to repeat an action. He knows best. If he tells us to burn down that house because there are f@ckers inside, we’ll burn it all night. If we can’t get it done right away, we’ll continue in the morning. He might also say: "Stop! That’s enough! Stand down!" because we’re not the only ones in action. There could be other guys flying, and he’s aware of that. Why should we all be there at once? In that case, we wait.

Is there any excitement? Personally, I don’t have any anymore. But your spirits drop when you miss. Sometimes we talk to each other at high volume. But then we make peace, hug it out because we understand what we’re doing. This isn’t a party, not a computer game. First and foremost, we’re protecting our guys who are holding positions right next to the f@ckers. We’re holding fallback positions. Our task is to prevent the enemy from reaching them, hold the lines, and, if possible, push them forward. A few rotations ago, we were advancing. Now, as you know, the situation near Kursk is a bit different. But we’re holding on. Assault after assault, attack after attack, we are defeating them. We stay in touch with the guys on the other flank. They say it is difficult there - there have been fogs, heavy fighting...

To return to your question, I don’t think it’s about excitement—it’s about understanding what you’re doing. Maybe it’s different for the guys. Sure, we celebrate when we take out an APC in the morning and an MT-LB the next day, because those vehicles bring grief and losses to our priceless fighters who are operating under extremely tough conditions—snow, mud, fog. But when you miss, everyone feels it—hands tremble, sweat breaks out, and, as I said, the mood drops.

- You see, it's different for everyone. A pilot with the call sign Bee told me that sometimes he gets excited. We discussed this topic in the context of the number of enemies destroyed. There was a time when he killed 50 Russians in a week with his Mavic. Do you keep similar statistics?

- We count at the time of the destruction. There is an operational headquarters for this. We report, confirm, and send them videos. They already keep statistics. I don't know how much I destroyed. We can kill a group of ten people in a day, and then chase one for half a day. But the fact that he did not reach our positions is already a big plus.

- What do you think of the enemy?

- I'll speak for our group because the guys and I have been working together for a long time. For us, this is bio-waste. Not the military, because the military has to defend their family and country, and not to invade someone else's in such a vile way. These are cockroaches that crawl everywhere. Evil spirits that need to be destroyed as much as possible.

- You made a very cool analogy with cockroaches - there are just as many of them, and they really do crawl everywhere. And in your direction, the Russians have already got " helpers " - the military from North Korea. Have you seen them?

- We did not see them on our flank. Sometimes we see a KIA lying face-up, and we check whether it is a Korean. But that’s still an enemy, and they need to be eliminated just the same. The more of them we take out, the better. Our job is to protect our guys and ensure there’s no enemy hiding in any forest plantation. We follow orders. If they tell us to move forward, we will. That said, there have been all kinds of situations here. Take the Kolotylivka checkpoint, for instance. That was incredibly tough emotionally. Do you remember the video circulating online of those f@ckers cutting off a soldier’s head, putting it on a stick, and showing it off? Our guys were the first to storm that checkpoint. They drove the Chechens out and just crushed them. Then their marines from the 155th Brigade moved in, bringing artillery, tanks, and aircraft. They bombarded us with everything they had. We operated in the middle of all that chaos—hitting them as hard as we could. At that time, we were praised for our efforts. Later, when they began dismantling our position, our commander got injured—a shell exploded nearby, and he was hit by two dozen pieces of shrapnel. Two of the wounds were very serious. I’m also the medic in our group, so I provided medical assistance. I saw how critical the situation was. We couldn’t get evacuated and had to find our own way out. We timed the intervals between strikes—no more than two or three minutes. They were shelling us from one in the morning, and we managed to leave only at five in the evening. Our commander had been wounded four hours earlier. He had a pneumothorax and was breathing with only one lung. Normally, a person takes three or four breaths in ten seconds, but he was up to ten. The situation was dire, so we decided to move. We got the commander to a stabilization point and then sent him to Sumy. The three of us returned to the gray zone because our guys had withdrawn. We took the drones and equipment we had left behind. Later, we repaired it all since everything was damaged. We checked the house where we used to sleep and saw it had been directly hit—in Ara’s and Chaplain’s room, right where their beds were. The three of us kept working in the Kursk region. Our guys started сapturing one village after another. Eventually, we crossed into Russian territory.

- How did you feel when you entered enemy territory?

- Before that, we used to scout and choose our positions on our own territory. We knew where our guys were and the approximate line of combat contact. We drove in and out using our own vehicles. But here, we were brought in on armored vehicles, 15 kilometers from the border. On both sides, there was forest. Our task was to support the soldiers holding positions and capturing POWs. We were stationed in a village, in one of the empty houses. That’s where I encountered something that was unpleasant for me: after the assaults, we entered that village and saw it had been looted. Our guys don’t do that because they’re constantly in combat, advancing forward. There’s no way they could take TVs and washing machines with them—they certainly don’t need those during an assault (smiles. - O.M.). Sometimes they don’t even carry water, as it’s hard enough to cover such distances every day while driving out the enemy.

To give you an idea, geese and chickens were dying of thirst and hunger in the streets. Pigs were locked in barns. The first thing we did was to give them water. There were no people there - they had left. Although at first we were visited by a civilian, a man of about 50. And we are from the South of Ukraine, so we know Russian. Ara asked him: "What did you want?". He said: "And you are yours?". Ara: "Of course we are! Glory to Ukraine!" He said: "I see!" (smiling. - O.M.).

But what shocked me the most was what we saw in the house next door: there was an old lady who was KIA. She had been abandoned. We realized this by her belongings - women's perfume, men's razors, children's toys. It was clear that she did not live alone. In another house nearby, there was a deceased grandfather who had also been abandoned. We were shocked! How could they do this to a loved one? People did not leave in a hurry - there was time.

- With this example, you aptly show the difference between us and the Russians - we have different worldviews.

- I cannot understand them in many ways. Why do they come here? What are they fighting for?

- You can't understand because they have different values.

- I think their system is just built this way. Dictatorship is much better suited for war than democracy, like we have. They have barrier troops behind them. That`s why they advance, take losses, and keep going. They also learn. For instance, they charge in once with vehicles, and they get destroyed. The second time, the same thing happened. The third time, they go as infantry. Plus, they have resources, so they have something to learn from. They have training grounds of enormous size. And what about us? If we set one up, it'll get hit within a week or two after some ‘well-wishers’ tip them off—there are so-called ‘awaiters’ in every city. But we keep working regardless. Moreover, we are all motivated, even though certain processes are taking place in the country, starting with the situation with the TCR and ending with the "Tyshchenko'" and others.

- What kind of pilots do they have?

- I don't know them personally (laughs - O.M.). I would not say that they are technologically behind us. As I said, they have enormous resources of their own, China is at their side. Those who are at war are given an "allowance on appointment" of ten thousand dollars for signing a contract. Yesterday, he was twisting pigs' tails and drinking, and today his wife tells him, 'Go fight—we'll live well!' The money pays. Behind them are barrier troops, and that's how they fight. I think pilots are forced to do the same: if you don't fly, you'll join the assault forces. There are skilled pilots who can hit their targets, and there are those who are still learning right here. In Vovchansk, there was a case: we were flying, saw a drone, and thought it was a kamikaze. But it fell once, twice, three times, and then on the sixth attempt, it dropped something strange, tied to a stick. That’s when we realized it was a bomber. We tracked it and saw it return to Russian territory. It revealed its position, so we hit it.

Now our guys are constantly being targeted by UAVs, of which the f@ckers have an abundance. They have everything you want. Zala and Supercam are constantly hovering in the air. They monitor all the equipment and our movements. If it's snowing, we try not to make any unnecessary movements so as not to trample on it and leave footprints, because they are visible. There was a funny incident today. The day before, I lost the Queen of Hornets—it didn’t make it 900 meters and went down. I had to decide whether to go after her or not. Of course, the commander wouldn’t let me go: "Where do you think you’re going? You’ll get hit by an FPV drone or something else!"Then, this morning, I came up 650 meters short on the same field. I said: "That’s it, I’m going!" (smiling - O.M.). I camouflaged myself so well that they couldn’t spot me. Ara and the Chaplain directed the Mavic to the right spot. I found it, retrieved it, and got back safely. Incidents like this happen two or three times during a rotation. A few days ago, another drone didn’t make it to the other side. The Chaplain and I went out and retrieved it. We’re always happy to get the drone back—it means we can keep working.

- You repair them, don't you?

- Yes, we do. We sort them out, reconfigure them, and re-sew them. We have spare parts with us. If not, we buy them and have them sent to us by Nova Poshta. Moreover, our Chaplain is a developer of drones and ground stations VITER. We also work and deal with them.

- And the state should have provided it...

- If they hadn’t wasted money on paving roads or pocketed funds and instead invested in development, everything would be different. Given the way we fought, we could be teaching others now. I already had a group where I taught six guys to fly. If I had more time and resources, that number could have been much higher. They would have been engaged in development. The Chaplain has a wise head, so we could improve any drones, including ground and surface drones. All of this is doable! The infantry should not suffer for lack of protection. They will not go anywhere, because someone has to keep the battle contact line. But it is possible to reduce their number through the work of pilots, so that the enemy does not reach our positions, and the guys do not have to engage in contact combat, and the availability of the necessary number of EWs to shoot down enemy drones. The f@ckers should be getting hammered as soon as they step out of their observation points. That’s it!

However, today, we have to do it all ourselves—building, repairing drones, and fighting. Just last night, I repurposed two kamikaze drones into bombers. I went to bed at three in the morning, and by five, I was up again, ready to fly.

- But it doesn't have to be this way...

- Who’s supposed to do all this? I’m not signing a contract because we need to get back to more manageable conditions where we can earn money, develop and assemble drones, and simplify certain processes to reduce costs. The Armed Forces don’t really feel the weight of the expenses. They might be handed 100-200 drones, and in one evening, they can crash 20 of them into a forest plantation, and that’s it. Meanwhile, I was given ten-inch drones, and I don’t use any of them as kamikaze drones. Why waste one in a single hit when it can be reused multiple times?

- Speaking of numbers. A pilot with the call sign Skif from the BULAVA unit, fighting in Donbas, shared that they had faced such intense enemy attacks that they went through 40 drones in a single day...

- Yes, those were kamikaze drones. They carry about a kilogram or two. Before lunch, the Chaplain and I managed to make 50-60 bomb drops working together. Do the math—that’s how many kamikaze drones would have been needed. Our task was to burn the forest plantation down to the roots. Otherwise, the guys would have to storm it, so we had to clear it out. And we hit it hard—I’m telling you! Delivering that many kamikaze drones back then would have been physically impossible because the logistics just didn’t allow for it.

- In conclusion, what motivates you to continue the struggle now?

- I have been condemning the aggressor country since 2014. The strongest motivation is that our best people are being killed and our territories are being taken away. It's a global story, not a local one, like there was fighting in my Voznesensk. No! Everything is at the state level. The enemy must leave our country and pay for what they have done, in accordance with international norms - we must be paid reparations. Yes, we have a difficult path ahead of us. But historically, it has been a long way to go - from the empire to today. We are taking another step towards Ukraine's independence. For some reason, it fell to us. That is why I am motivated. This is my country, my family, my home. There will be no other way!

Dear friends, the guys from the Drongo UAV Strike Group need drones to carry out their effective work on destroying the enemy. If you have the desire and ability to help, please join the fundraising. Details: