"I imagined storming treelines and dugouts, just like guys do," UAV pilot, call sign "Ket"
...She was 20 when she signed a contract with the 110th TDF Brigade. Since then, Kateryna Krepysheva, call sign Ket, has flown first heavy bomber UAVs, then fixed-wing UAVs. She has fought on the Kupiansk, Pokrovsk, and Vuhledar directions, and in Zaporizhzhia and Kursk regions as well as in Sumy region.
"I've been everywhere except Kherson," says Ket. You look at her and think: perhaps Kherson region is not lucky.
- Katia, your current call sign is crystal clear. But you had others. Which ones?
- My very first call sign was Slozka ("Crybaby").
- Why "Slozka"? Did you cry a lot?
- Because when I was in training, I had to go to the United Kingdom for a course. I didn’t want to go at all, I was sick, had a 40°C fever, and they still sent me to Britain. I cried the whole way, and that’s how I got called "Slozka."
Another call sign was Poteriashka ("Lost One"). Because I was always wandering off somewhere, totally out of the loop. I could just saunter off "home," to the barracks, when I was still working there.
And "Ket" is the third call sign. I’ve had it for a year now.
- How long have you been at war, and which units have you served in?
- I signed a contract on Feb. 27, 2024, with the 110th Territorial Defense Brigade. I spent six months there. At first, I was a records clerk for a week, but I didn’t like it. I realized I needed combat, so I became a pilot. Then I transferred to another brigade, I can’t say which, that’s prohibited, where I also served six months as a pilot. Now, due to my health, I’ve been reassigned to a rear-area position. But despite that, I’m still trying to switch back to piloting.
- In the Territorial Defense, you flew "Nemesis" bombers, known for taking out armored vehicles, command posts, and ammunition depots. Which sortie from that time do you consider your most successful? Is there something you’ll someday tell your kids about?
- I’ll probably tell them about my first combat sortie. As soon as I got on the controls for actual combat, I flew three missions in a row in one night and hit the target all three times! First, it was an ammunition depot, and the strike was perfect. The second target was an enemy dugout, and the third was a bridge!
- Sounds like the Good Lord was showing you from your very first sorties that UAVs were your calling. Tell us who taught you to fly and how hard the training was.
- I learned to fly at a training center, and yes, it was hard. It was my very first drone. Honestly, before I moved into UAV piloting, I hadn’t even considered that track. I knew nothing about drones, just some buzzing contraption flying around… I wasn’t interested at all.
- And what were you interested in?
- I actually wanted to be an assault trooper.
- Wow.
- But since they didn’t let me in there, I thought: fine, I still want to do combat work, so I’ll become a pilot. It was very hard. I didn’t understand: the drone is flying and I’m supposed to figure out where it’s flying? At first, it was hell for me! But after about two weeks, I really started to get the hang of it. Even the instructors said, "Is this really her first time flying?!"
- Are you stubborn by nature? If it doesn’t work, you’ll try again and again until it’s right?
- You could say that.
- You say you wanted to be an assault trooper. How did you picture it? Scenes from movies, video games?
- I imagined storming treelines and dugouts, just like the guys do. I played the same games and watched the videos.
- You know, it doesn’t occur to most women your age to become an assault trooper. Where does that determination come from?
- Honestly, from the very start of the full-scale invasion, I thought I should join the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). But my classmate, he was 18 then, went to get issued a weapon in the first days of the invasion. They wouldn’t give him one. Through him, I tried to find out whether they issued weapons to women. They said no. So I thought: maybe that’s a sign, maybe I shouldn’t join the AFU. In other words, I was afraid at first. But then, in 2023, I thought: how am I any worse than the guys defending the country? I watched a lot of videos of female snipers and female assault troopers telling their stories… and I realized I needed to join.
- I’ve already asked about your most successful day in this war. What was the hardest day?
- Every day was tougher than I’d imagined… The hardest was probably when I was on Basic Combined Arms Training. Later on there wasn’t that same level of physical strain, but it was still hard. There were problems — arguments within the crew, other difficulties. Overall it was Groundhog Day, day after day. Still just as hard.
Ket: "That’s how our good morning at Basic Combined Arms Training began at 4 a.m. Under the blasts of training grenades flying right at you, with instructors yelling straight into your ear. A week without being able to wash, pull yourself together, or rest. For some reason, it only drew me in even more. I wanted to become an assault trooper."
- When you were flying bombers, what did a typical day of Kateryna the pilot look like?
- I’d wake up at noon. Then I’d head to the site where I worked. For the first six months, I didn’t operate from a dugout. It was a remote drone controlled from 30 kilometers away. Meaning you could be sitting at home drinking coffee while your drone was physically out in a treeline. So in the afternoon, say at 2 p.m., I’d arrive at the point and plan the mission, how and where I would fly.
- Give an example of a mission and how you carried it out.
- They gave me coordinates, I entered them into the program. A point would immediately appear on the map showing where to fly. I’d also enter the coordinates of our launch point. Then I built the route, how I’d fly, at what speed, and how I’d return.
- Do you need solid knowledge of geometry, aerodynamics, or other sciences in your field?
- Honestly, I don’t know math, geometry, or physics at all. I really didn’t like studying. In the early grades, from first to fifth, I was an A student. Then I got sick, missed a year, spent it in the hospital and that was it. Plus, adolescence. I basically stopped studying. I had some knowledge of humanities, but math, physics, and so on - no. On top of that, I had very bad relationships with some of my teachers. So honestly, I came here with zero knowledge.
- So you were a troublemaker-assault trooper back in school already?
- Yes...
- Let’s get back to a typical mission and its execution. So, you’ve set all the required waypoints. What happens next?
- After I built the mission, I waited until the guys went out to the position. Around 9 p.m., the engineers, combat engineers, and EOD specialists would head out. They’d arrive by 11 p.m. and set up the drone.
- Engineers make sense, but why combat engineers and EOD specialists?
- Because some of them made the mines and attached them to the drone themselves.
- How long did such a mission typically last?
- One flight took about 40 minutes, depending on how far it was flying and at what speed.
- In any job, there are mistakes. Did you analyze your mistakes, maybe with the command?
- We analyzed them, when, because of me, we lost an aircraft, which costs a lot.
- And what mistakes were found on the pilot’s part?
- Because I could sometimes accelerate too abruptly, the vibration caused by a control error could make the aircraft start shaking, the drone’s stabilization accuracy would drop, and it could crash. And if it crashes with a munition, it’s a disaster…
- Were you ashamed at those moments?
- I didn’t show it. I just said: well, the guys are alive, right? They’re alive.
- But did you draw conclusions for yourself?
- Yes, that I shouldn’t do that next time. But for me, what mattered most wasn’t that the drone was lost but that the guys were alive. That’s what’s important. Everyone loses drones.
- And what do you mean by "the guys are alive"? Please explain.
- The guys are in a dugout, launching the drone not far from them. They set it up in the field, connect it, and then go into the dugout. From there, I launch it with the controller. If I make a mistake, the drone could fly right at them and explode with them.
Ket: "My first combat deployment in 2024. Three kilometers from the line of combat, constant shelling, and the feeling that any moment my real battles with weapons would begin. But fortunately, it turned out differently. I took out the Russians another way.))"
- I see. Then let’s move on to the second stage of your career as a pilot. You were transferred from bombers to fixed-wing UAVs. How did your service change in terms of task specifics, flight process, and daily routine?
- It was very difficult for me. There’s a huge difference between controlling the "Nemesis" and a fixed-wing type. Flying a bomber is hard, but you can get used to it because it’s more like a computer game, you see everything from the first-person view. But when you fly with wings, you have to learn to control it from a third-person perspective. You see it out there in the sky, and you have to maneuver it correctly in mirror image. That’s very hard. The controls are more like with FPV.
Ket: "My control console and a photo from combat with my wing.))"
- And after that, you also had to go out with the crew.
- Yes, I was already going out.
- So that "computer game" feeling you had for the first six months was gone, and it became tough field work.
- Exactly. And then came real adrenaline. That’s what I wanted. I didn’t want to sit at home and control it. I was bored. There was no adrenaline, sure, something blew up when I dropped the munition. But I didn’t feel like I was really doing anything.
- So, if I understand correctly, you’ve needed that kind of drive since school.
- Yes. I get bored, I can’t sit still. I always need to do something, keep moving.
- I see. And what was your most successful day with this new crew?
- I should explain first: at the training center, when I was just learning to fly this wing, I could never land it properly. It would always either crash, break, or fall apart. Then I started flying in combat. The adrenaline was through the roof, I got nervous, but in that moment, I focused completely on landing it. And I landed it perfectly. What’s more, at that time, I was also teaching the guys how to fly. Because once I was already in combat, they told us: your crew will train another crew of guys. And they assigned me to teach, since I wanted to be a pilot.
- So that made it even more important for you to do everything right?
- Yes. If they told me to train the guys, then I had to fly perfectly. Especially since I hadn’t held the controller in my hands for quite a while. There was a break between the training center and combat.
- And among the guys you trained, was there ever that attitude: "How come some girl is teaching me?! What’s the world coming to?"
- No. I had good guys. They treated me normally. If I was flying, they’d come up and ask how I did it. They’d say: wow, that’s cool, can you land it right in front of us?
On the other hand, there were guys who treated me badly. But that wasn’t when I was teaching.
- What kind of missions did you fly with these fixed-wing UAVs?
- Reconnaissance. We flew and observed where the b#stards were moving.
- ...For the last six months, you’ve served in the Sumy region. And before that?
- My first sector was the Kupiansk direction. Then Pokrovsk, Vuhledar, Zaporizhzhia, and the Kursk region. I’ve been everywhere except Kherson.
- It’s generally believed (and it’s hard to argue) that war is a man’s business. Do you think these years have been changing that notion?
- Yes, a lot of girls are fighting. Many of my friends are fighting. When I first came to the Basic Combined Arms Training center, there were 30 girls living with us in our room in the barracks. And that was just our barracks. There were more girls in the neighboring one. Twenty girls even went with us to Britain to train as assault troopers. There were many of us — and all so motivated! And I never saw a single girl perform worse than the guys. On the contrary, the guys often complained they felt unwell; they were the most frequent visitors to the medical unit. I’ve never seen girls like that.
- And when it comes to men’s attitudes toward women, whether young guys or older men over 50, have you noticed any change? Have many servicemen who in 2022 looked down on women or asked "what are you doing here?" grown more understanding and respectful over time?
- Honestly, I’ve only seen positive comments toward women online. Well, okay, a couple of times someone told me, "Good for you, you joined the army, much respect," and that was it. But overall, I think attitudes have actually gotten worse. Many men, and their wives as well, say that women only go to war to sleep with someone, and so on. I’ve been told that several times.
- Is it hurtful to hear that?
- Yes. I can’t just turn a blind eye when they say that. Because their wife is sitting at home, I’m protecting her, and both of them tell me I’m only here to sleep with someone. It’s offensive to hear that! When you risk your life for these people, and they call you that…
During training in the United Kingdom. Ket: "Here I am with my brother-in-arms. They issued us uniforms and armor; the helmet was too big for me, and the vest looked like a kiddie ‘snot rag’ on me."
- Is this age-related? Do only older men say such things, or your peers as well?
- Both peers and older men. When I posted a video on TikTok, just me sitting in a dugout, without words, without anything, so many guys wrote to me! I checked their accounts, some were 20, some 40, some 50 — no difference. They all said the same thing.
- Were these guys military or civilians?
- Military.
- And what do you usually say to such "smart guys"?
- To those sexists I either don’t reply at all, or, if I’m in a combative mood, I start arguing (she smiles — E.K.). Unfortunately, it’s hard for me to stay calm when I hear that filth aimed at service members. Things like: women are prostitutes, men go to war just to make money and so on. It’s a really painful topic.
- Let me change the subject. From mutual acquaintances I know you’re a fan of the Harry Potter world. During this war, do you ever draw parallels with the Potterverse? For example, to me the "deep concern" expressed by some countries reminds me of the Ministry of Magic refusing to see that evil was rising and taking over the world. How about you?
- The freshly mobilized remind me of the gathering of Order of the Phoenix volunteers. Very much like "Dumbledore’s Army."
- I remember.
- It was like the volunteers who went in at the start of the full-scale invasion — they didn’t know how to handle weapons or anything. And still, it worked out!
- Moving on. Is it true that you write poetry?
- Yes. I write only when I feel really awful inside.
- Really? Is it catharsis and self-help for you?
- Yes.
- Do you write at war as well?
- I tried, about fallen brothers-in-arms and sisters-in-arms.
- Then I’ll ask you to share something you’ve written. And tell us a bit about why and how you wrote this poem.
- Okay. I wrote this poem under these circumstances. First, in August of last year, a close person of mine died. While I was going through that, I felt terrible, I wouldn’t eat or drink at all. And then, within a month after that, another brother-in-arms and a sister-in-arms were killed. It was hell for me. I didn’t know what to do. It was very bad. I lay there looking out the window, crying, and realized I had to do something, somehow let the pain out.
So I wrote a poem. I switched my focus to it, to finding rhymes, choosing words. In the process I calmed down.
This is the poem:
Forever with you — only recollections,
Of how in happy moments you were with them,
Which song you last listened to together,
And that carefree laughter carried into the hard fight.
They stood firm, and you with them — shoulder to shoulder,
You went with them into battle, through fire and through night.
Now only their wings watch over you.
And in your heart — this great sorrow. Forever. Evermore.
- I hope they all heard this poem, and still do. One last question: do you let yourself dream about what you’ll do after the war? Or is that risky for your mind, since no one knows when the war will end, and you shouldn’t tempt fate by thinking about the future?
- I haven’t figured out exactly what I want to do yet. But I’ve been thinking and planning to become a psychologist or psychiatrist, specifically a military one. I often dive into my thoughts and issues. And I read a lot of books on psychology.
- Interesting. Usually people get the knowledge first, and then the practice.
- I’m the other way around — practice first, then the theory!
- That’s probably great. When you start getting the theoretical knowledge, you’ll already know what the theorists mean.
- Yes. Before I ever went to see psychologists, I read a lot about symptoms and so on. And then, when I went to my psychologists and psychiatrists, they told me things I already knew.
Yevhen Kuzmenko, Censor.NET
