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12.09.25 20:29 1 920 4

"Vampire" UAV operator, call sign Kolektor: "My job is simple: get to position, take controller in my hands and make b***ards hurt badly"

…For the interview with Censor.NET, Kolektor showed up in a balaclava, a decorative one at that: a menacing skull adorned with vampire fangs

I asked him whether it was really necessary. He isn’t a reconnaissance man or a designer the enemy would hunt down. "Just" a Vampire operator in the Dovbush’s Hornets unit, the Unmanned Systems Battalion of the 68th Separate Jager Brigade named after Oleksa Dovbush.

Instead, I got this answer:

- I believe that at this stage, pilots and reconnaissance are very high-value targets for the enemy. We cause plenty of trouble for their logistics and any plans, so we can be targets for their manhunts both in combat and in civilian life. They have their own "awaiters" (the ones waiting for Russia - ed.note), who can also make things very unpleasant for us.

More on why the hero of this interview prefers not to "show" his face will come later in the conversation. For now, one more question about self-identification:

- Your call sign is a bit ominous. Why "Kolektor"? Were you a taxman before the war?

- Actually, no. Before the war, I worked in private security. I was a head of security. In the army, my brothers-in-arms gave me this callsign because of my appearance.

- What, the sort of look that’s just missing a baseball bat in your hand?

- A bit, yes. Before that, I had a different callsign. When I joined the unit, "Kolektor" just stuck.

- In Dovbush’s Hornets you work with a very recognizable type of UAV—the Vampire. Could you tell readers what this UAV is?

- It’s a hexacopter modified for bombing. We handle a range of tasks. First, we deliver supplies to our guys on the forward positions. We also conduct bombing, lay mines, and engage enemy targets. The bomber carries roughly up to 20 kilograms, depending on the distance.

- At first, the Vampires carried about 15 kilograms. So the capability has increased somewhat since then.

- In reality, it depends on the pilot’s skill, how well he can fly. You have to factor in the weather and the wind. If the wind is blowing toward the enemy, you can take up to 20 kilograms and carry it 6 kilometers from the line of contact. It also depends on where the launch position is, close to the line of contact or farther back. You have to account for these factors and plan around them. My personal maximum was 14 or 15 kilograms carried 15 kilometers from the takeoff point.

- What about your flight altitudes?

- It varies from one operator to another. I used to fly very low, because the enemy believed (and kept insisting) that the Vampire UAV, the "Baba Yaga" as they call it, flies very high.

- So you were working for the element of surprise?

- Absolutely. I came in low. I climbed when necessary, then dropped back down. I never held one altitude.

- What targets do you mostly work against?

- Lately, I’ve been going after our "colleagues"—enemy pilots. It’s my favorite hobby. To make our job a bit easier, to make it easier for our guys to move in, I target enemy pilots.

- All the more reason to keep your face covered, because with a hobby like that, you’ll draw special attention from the "colleagues" on the other side. Tell me, going after your opposite numbers in UAV units, is that practically target number one for both sides?

- I think right now UAVs are a tool that inflict very heavy damage, for the enemy and for us. And to make it easier for us to reach our work points, we have to take out enemy pilots. Their FPVs are laying mines and dropping bombs. That’s a big headache for our logistics. It takes time to clear the way and get to the point. Plus, and here I’ll speak for the "Vampire" UAV, we make them hurt at the worst possible moments. We might leave them alone for a while, and then at night Baba Yaga shows up and blows up five positions. And then they’ve got a problem, rebuilding them.

- Where did they get that name, Baba Yaga, for our Vampires?

- It’s not just for Vampires, it’s for any large drones. I think back when they first started appearing, they nicknamed them Baba Yaga because it’s loud and only shows up at night.

- And against these "colleagues," what munitions do you use? Thermobaric, shaped-charge, or high-explosive fragmentation?

- Depends on the position, based on reconnaissance data, and what’s there. My main choice is high-explosive fragmentation munitions. And if I can set something on fire, a dugout, some shelter, I’ll also take incendiaries. If not, I take a light thermobaric charge and give them a bang.

- You’re describing this like a chef offering his clients a variety of delicacies.

- Exactly, I deliver these sweet little candies from the Ukrainian Baba Yaga, who really doesn’t like the enemy and wants them to get the hell out to their Rashka (Russia - ed.note) as soon as possible, so that Ukrainians can live their peaceful lives.

- Does the enemy have any idea where you’re located? What do their attempts to take you out look like?

- I think they more or less know our drones’ performance. I also think they grid the city, and, figuring we might be somewhere within a given square, they try to pummel it with KABs. If they can bring up Grads, then with Grads. If not, they’ve got their notorious makeshift Molniya drone, which just flies around chaotically and tears down houses. But if their reconnaissance actually does its job, spots a Starlink terminal, antennas, something else, combat personnel at a location, something will hit there almost immediately. But it won’t necessarily be the position itself. Knowing they’ll strike, we plan every step in advance so that our personnel and crews stay intact. Some equipment can be replaced in 15–20 minutes and we’ll still keep working. Because this is war: equipment can be damaged by a KAB, by a Grad, or by fragments.

- Kolektor, my friend, how many people are in your crew?

- At the moment, I don’t have a permanent crew. I work with all the guys from our so-called band, and I work with everyone. I operate, and I train.

- A typical crew you go out with, how many people are in it and what are their roles?

- Our plan now is that every serviceman who joins the Vampires should be a universal fighter. He should be able to load, to fly, and, if need be, to drive.

- So the goal is maximum interchangeability? One day you go as a pilot, another as a navigator, and sometimes you can even fill in as a technician?

- 100%. At the position, we all do the same work, and everyone helps each other.

- Does the enemy’s electronic warfare cause you big problems?

- By now, we have a better understanding of how it works and how to operate under it. Sometimes, yes, it causes problems. We can’t fly long distances and hit targets like my favorite "colleagues." In that case, we target infantry shelters where enemy personnel are concentrated, or a mortar or a gun position somewhere.

- How much has fiber optics changed the course of the war at the UAV level?

- Early, on there was a lot of it, what I call junk. First of all, the fiber-optics harms the environment. It literally burns and flies across the fields. Entire fields were covered with that fiber. Now they use it less and for different purposes. If before they were just curious what it was and learned to fly only on it, now they send an FPV "waiter" on a fiber-optic tether that can enter into an awkward spot and just lie in wait for its target. So there isn’t as much fiber out there as there was at the start.

- Right now, as in recent months, all eyes in this war are on Pokrovsk. You’re fighting on that axis as well. How do you see the situation in the near term?

- My instructor, the one who taught me to fly Baba Yaga, used to say you must always prepare for the worst, be ready for anything in our situation. As of now, if the Russians enter Pokrovsk, the urban fighting will be very tough; operating drones will get harder. That said, however difficult it is, things in Pokrovsk are under control for us at the moment. The main thing is to make sure that, at the outset of active assaults, the bastards don’t slip into the city through any gaps in our defenses they’re probing for. They’re rebuilding their strength now, and we’re continuing to hold the line. By autumn, I think it’s going to be very hard for the enemy to get into Pokrovsk, both for armor and for infantry. It will be hard for the enemy to advance because there will be rain and mud. The approaches to Pokrovsk from their side mostly run through tree lines. Tree lines will turn into mud. And we shouldn’t forget that our FPV operators are also hitting their logistics. They are doing it very effectively. If I’m not mistaken, our guys are disrupting their supply lines more than 20 kilometers from the line of contact. They move around on motorcycles, ATVs, or in small infantry groups bringing food, ammunition, and other stuff to their positions. Our guys strike the enemy hard. So it’s tough for b*stards to restore their supplies.

- Let me ask about the enemy’s increasingly massive attacks on our rear areas and frontline towns. What should we expect in the autumn and winter?

- I think our rear already knows how to survive in hard times without electricity, heat, or water. People in the rear now understand perfectly well how to cope. You should always expect the worst and prepare for the worst. Because when you know a given situation will happen, you can calmly and cool-headedly understand what needs to be done in the rear… I recently returned from leave. Not all cities in Ukraine feel this war. It’s only at certain moments, when the Russians strike their cities with Shaheds and missiles. Only then does the majority of the population remember the war and start helping the military. Logistics are very difficult right now: many vehicles are being blown up, and a lot of resources are needed. I’m not saying the state doesn’t help us with this. It helps as much as it can. For example, over my year of service, I didn’t experience major problems. The supply has been very good, from the state and from volunteers.

Still, we must not forget about the guys holding the line. We need to support them and, first of all, donate. Because if the guys have nothing to strike with, nothing to move with, you understand yourselves how far the b#stards could get. We must not forget that we are one nation, one people, doing one job. That’s it. I believe that if it becomes like it was in early 2022, when Ukrainians stood as one, the enemy will find our gifts very unpleasant to receive.

- Let's get back to Dovbush’s Hornets https://shershni68.com/. Tell us: among newcomers, who tends to learn to fly reasonably well from scratch, say, on the "Vampires"? Maybe some potential recruits will take an interest.

- I’ll say this: UAVs aren’t as hard as they seem. It’s very straightforward. Usually, my guys start flying after two weeks of training. They build skill calmly and under supervision. It’s like a car: first you need to feel how it drives and its dimensions. Same with a drone. You have to feel it.

- How important is it to have a good vestibular system?

- That matters more for FPV, where the guys sometimes fly in goggles. For us, it’s mostly about looking and controlling the airframe.

- Have you been with Dovbush’s Hornets from the start?

- Not from the start, and not from the start of the war. My first one-year contract ends on September 13. I joined the army on September 13, 2024. I completed training with Dovbush’s Hornets around late November. I came through recruiting because I really liked the terms of the contract.

- Do you believe there’s a chance of a ceasefire or truce anytime soon?

- No. And even if it happens, I don’t think it would be very beneficial for us. The enemy is also getting severely worn down. Their strength and moral stability are running out.

- At the front, do you feel that the enemy is exhausted?

- They know they’re being sent in as cannon fodder. I think when they go in, especially the infantry, the assault troops, they’re burying themselves in advance. We can see why they’re being sent now and what their mobilization looks like. They’re put in prison, and from prison they’re offered to go to the SMO ("Special Military Operation" - ed.note) so that their charges will disappear. They’re told: you’ll come back home safe and sound, everything will be fine. You can see this in social media and in interviews with b*stards taken prisoner by us.

- Interestingly, their hawks say the same: no ceasefire, Khokhly (derogatory Russian term for Ukrainians - ed.note) have run out of steam, there are fewer of them, it’s harder for them…

- Our people get tired too, but we have one very strong motivation, we’re defending our state and our families. As for me, I’m not that tired, because eliminating a b*stard, for example, feels like getting a birthday present. Very satisfying. I’m motivated to kill them, to hurt them, so our guys don’t die. My job is simple: arrive at the position, take the controller in my hands, and make them hurt badly so they no longer want to come at us. There was even a case when one of their assault groups was moving in on us. (That’s very common for them now: they come in small groups, pairs, threes, especially at night. We still see them.) And there was a real "athlete," as I called him to myself. I spent about 20 minutes flying over him and hovering while he just ran back and forth under Baba Yaga, trying to get away. But it didn’t work. He still ended up right under the same little tree where he’d tried to hide…

"Baba Yaga’s duel with the ‘athlete’"

And his comrade immediately accepted his fate—to become a "good Russian." He just lay there under his poncho, thinking he wasn’t visible. But then a little treat called the "Kardan" came in and he was blown into the field to rest in peace. Or maybe not in peace, as God decides.

…They move in under ponchos, and sometimes they can make it to a position, but as soon as we detect them, they are immediately neutralized. We do everything to stop them from reaching our forward positions, our infantry, so the guys can feel at ease in their trenches and know they’re remembered, that they’re safe. And if needed, a big UAV will come for the Russians and give the orcs a proper beating!