Aerial reconnaissance officer of "Khyzhak" Brigade Mykola Tkachuk, call sign Street: "I’m tired of war. Very. But I’m not even considering taking leave"
The 32-year-old Zhytomyr resident fought with the 95th Air Assault Brigade in 2015. After leaving the airborne, he joined the Patrol Police. He has stayed true to that service, since 2022, he has been eliminating the aggressor with a brigade formed from volunteer patrol police officers determined to defend the country.
The soldier arrived at the brigade HQ straight from positions in Toretsk after nearly a week on rotation. He clearly wanted to wash up and lie down. But he patiently answered my questions. Mykola is one of the most effective aerial reconnaissance operators in the Khyzhak (Predator - ed. note) Brigade. The sector where he has worked for almost two years is among the most intense - the Toretsk area. The war once again proves that if you are determined to defend your country and be useful to it, a paratrooper can first become a patrol police officer and then a fighter in a combat unit who has trained up to serve as an aerial reconnaissance operator.
While this interview was being prepared, Mykola sustained a shrapnel wound and two blast concussions. But after treatment, mostly in-theater, he kept returning to the "Khyzhaks."
"I WAS CERTAIN RUSSIA WOULDN’T STOP AT DONBAS"
- "I’m from Zhytomyr. But I joined the Patrol Police in the Donbas in 2016, when a unit was being formed in Kramatorsk," Mykola says. - "I lived in this city after meeting my future wife in 2014. At that time, I served with the 95th Air Assault Brigade; we fought in these areas, liberating towns from the occupiers. As it happened, I got married here and, after leaving the army, lived in Kramatorsk for two years. So I joined the police here and later transferred to Zhytomyr. I decided to be closer to my mother. My mother lived alone; she has a disability. I needed to be by her side."
- Why did you choose the Patrol Police?
- It seemed interesting. The service was being reformed, so I decided to give it a try, see if it would work out or not...During the interview, we talked, and they brought up that I had served in the army, which played a role: "We’re taking you." Later, I found out that quite a few people in the Patrol Police had combat experience. And that, by the way, came in handy later when the full-scale invasion began.
- When you were already serving in the police in Zhytomyr, did you think the war would escalate so much that you’d end up back on the front line?
- I didn’t just think it, I was sure of it.
- Why?
- I understood that Russia wouldn’t stop at Donbas. Even when we were relaxing with friends and arguing about it, I always said so. Unfortunately, I was right. I was sure this would all come back, and I wasn’t even surprised when the full-scale invasion began. February 24 was the first day of my leave. I was supposed to go to a friend’s funeral—our company sergeant from the 95th Brigade had been killed. That morning, I got up and received a call from my company commander. I immediately asked, "Has it started?" "Yes." "All right, I’m on my way." Unfortunately, I never made it to the funeral, I went straight to work.
- Why didn’t you return to the 95th Brigade? Did you think about it?
- At first, I did. But my company commander calmed me down and said, "Stay. We’ll be working too." Some time later, I learned that a combined Patrol Police detachment was being formed. I trained as an aerial reconnaissance operator, got my certification, and waited for a combat assignment. I probably waited more than half a year.
- So there was some sort of waiting list?
- Back then, our combined detachment was quite small.
- There were several stages in the development of the Khyzhak Brigade, explains Vasyl Koriak, call sign Tantsor (Dancer), who oversees unmanned systems in the unit. "At first, there were ten people in aerial reconnaissance. That was enough for a while. Then we went to the commanders and said, ‘We need fifteen more people, then we’ll be much stronger.’ We justified why expansion was necessary. ‘All right, recruit fifteen,’ they agreed. Then we put out the call in our group chats: ‘Guys, who wants to join?...’ That’s how Mykola joined us during one of the subsequent expansion phases."
- "Why did you choose to join aerial reconnaissance?" I continue to ask Mykola.
- When I learned that a detachment had been formed and that the police were fighting, I decided not to abandon my work but to fight shoulder to shoulder with my fellow patrol officers. The role didn’t matter. Aerial reconnaissance operators were in demand, and that field was developing rapidly, so I decided to learn how to fly UAVs.
- When did you first join the combined detachment? Where was it based then?
- My first deployment was in the autumn of 2022 to the Serebrianskyi Forest, on the approaches to Sloviansk. I was running missions there up until around August 2023.
- What did your work consist of back then? Did you only carry out aerial reconnaissance?
- Of course, but we also adjusted mortar and artillery fire and located the enemy. We observed infantry movements, discovered new enemy positions and where they were digging in, tracked ammunition deliveries and where they were unloaded, followed vehicle movements and firing positions. For example, a tank might operate from one position one day and another the next. We detected all of that and called in artillery. We destroyed vehicles carrying ammunition, personnel on positions, and a camouflaged 120 mm mortar, we found and neutralised it. We were also doing munition drops from a drone by that time. I was only learning then and needed to build experience. Once the guys destroyed an APC, it was carrying TM rounds. It burned out, and I was dropping on the infantry… I was training, Mykola laughs.
- How did front-line troops react to you patrol officers?
- Reactions varied. A MANPADS crew was sitting near us. We walked up to them and asked, "Guys, got any cigarettes? We ran out." "Yes. Who are you, aerial reconnaissance?" "Yes." "Which unit?" "The Patrol Police." "You’re lying!" Like, what Patrol Police? We’d say, "Seriously, we’re from the Patrol Police." After that, conversations were fine. But the first reaction almost always was: that can’t be true!
- Do you get stupid jokes, like "Show me your papers"?
- Nothing like that happened to me personally, but a comrade told how he talked to soldiers who asked where he was from. "The Patrol Police." "We don’t believe you!" He took out his ID. "Wow, they’ve even learned to forge those IDs now! They’re forging SBU and SOF IDs, too!" Front-line fighters sometimes tell us, "What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be sitting in the rear."
- I always answer that: "Why are we any less than you? Why do you defend the country while we’re supposed to sit in the rear? If we have the opportunity now to defend our state, we do it," adds Tantsor. "I believe it’s honorable not just to sign with the Armed Forces to defend the country, that’s not difficult now, but what the Patrol Police are doing is important. We have the chance to defend Ukraine, and we are doing it. Right now, that’s what’s most necessary, in my view."
I AM DOING EVERYTHING WITH MY OWN HANDS TO DRIVE THE OCCUPIER FROM OUR LAND"
- The Serebrianskyi Forest is one thing. Now you work in the city, in Toretsk, among buildings…
- That’s my second urban deployment. I first went to Chasiv Yar. Why is working in a city harder? In tree lines, you can see the enemy much farther out, so there’s more time to react. For example, you can start with artillery, then mortars, and then either munition drops from a drone or FPV work. In the city, they massed, in small groups and moved house to house. One group shifts position and sits for two hours and you won’t detect it. Another group is somewhere else and moves on at the right moment. They keep moving like that all the time. And basements in apartment blocks can only be neutralized by aviation; even gun artillery can’t reach them. It’s precisely because of this movement that it is very difficult to destroy the enemy in urban areas.
- Do they hide by the walls, hard to spot?
- Yes. And they immediately find basements where they can mass.
- So you only see the movements and don’t always manage to react before they’ve already gone to ground?
- Exactly. Artillery won’t respond to these kinds of movements. Only munitions dropped from a drone and FPV can help here.
- In the Serebrianskyi Forest, you destroyed tanks and ammunition supplies. In cities, I understand, you mostly deal with infantry. They don’t bring a lot of vehicles in.
- Right. In Chasiv Yar, they tried storming with vehicles, and then we could destroy armor. We even tried to take out a tank. A T-90 came in. We have a comrade called Nagan. We got ready when we realized vehicles were moving. We fitted two small shaped-charge warheads. Then we saw a T-90M. We wanted to destroy it, it was exciting! But we didn’t manage. It drove up to an apartment block and began firing on it, then turned its turret to the side. Guys from a rocket launcher hit it. The tank was abandoned and later burned out. In Chasiv Yar, our group successfully burned two airborne assault vehicles (AAVs). They drove into the town, stopped, and we used a Mavic to deliver a shaped-charge hit and set them alight. They were parked side by side, we hit them cleanly and the vehicles caught fire. Also in Chasiv Yar, we burned three MT-LBs. There were more mechanized assaults there, so we were able to destroy armor.
- In Toretsk, do the Russians mostly move in on foot?
- Yes. Vehicles don’t come in. Evac happens by motorbikes and quad bikes at times. But heavy combat vehicles aren’t used. Early on, near Pivnichne, a village by Toretsk, they did try to push in, lots of IFVs and tanks. The 95th Brigade was holding there then. There was this moment: a tank is moving; I’m flying over it, calling out its direction. Suddenly, I see its turret just ripped off, our paratroopers hit it with a Javelin.
- I guess the emotions run high when you see that?
- Yes. You’re glad that tank didn’t reach where it was headed. A tank is serious hardware, if it makes it to our positions, it’s a big problem for the guys.
We also guide troops onto positions with Mavics: we provide a live drone feed so commanders can see where the group is moving and react at the right moment, so, God forbid, our guys don’t walk into the enemy. The front isn’t stable now; it’s jagged. Take the wrong turn past a building and you’re already in the enemy’s kill zone. You might be hovering 200 meters over the city, watching your infantry and what’s happening nearby. Here’s a building our troops are holding, and the enemy is flanking it and entering the rear. You can warn our guys about that. We also spot enemy Mavic drones…
- Have you managed to kill them?
- I’ve got a story. Maybe I’ll get scolded for it, but here goes. It was in Kalynivka. I can’t fully confirm it, but the enemy UAV definitely went downand the shelling stopped immediately. A "Pion" was firing, not at us, but close enough that the shrapnel spread could have hit us. I’m hovering, doing reconnaissance. I spot a Mavic hanging in the grey zone nearby. I turn and fly up to it, it’s hovering exactly over the spot they’re shelling. I asked if any of ours were in that area—no. So I just hit it from above. The shelling stopped.
- And your Mavic?
- It survived! The funniest part is that it made it back. The rear motor arm was knocked clean off, the front one was damaged, and the props were chewed up. That was my last remaining Mavic. If I’d lost it, I wouldn’t have been able to fly. It was very risky; I don’t do that anymore.
- Did you keep using that Mavic, did you fix it up?
- I wrapped it with electrical tape, swapped a prop, and flew again.
- Do you give your Mavics names or callsigns?
- We talk to them. (Laughs.)
- How so?
- We scold them, we push them: "Come on, fly!"
- Does the UAV ever refuse to cooperate?
- Of course, it happens. And often. And it’s not always the weather. Sometimes you’re flying the Mavic and it just auto-lands, refuses to go, freezes in place and starts descending off to the side. Same during munition drops on the enemy. You need the Mavic to hold a fixed point, line up precisely, and release, but sometimes it won’t obey. That’s when the whole team starts talking to it.
- Do you keep personal stats on enemy hits?
- No. I just have a folder where I save the results of my own work. I’ve never counted how many enemy we’ve taken out with the guys. I think it’s a lot.
- How many Mavics have you lost? That’s always a painful subject.
- You know, I probably didn’t lose a single Mavic all year. Really. Personally, I haven’t, I’m not speaking for the group. But lately I’ve been guilty of it. There’s heavy saturation of EW now; even our vehicles are fitted with EW systems, some tuned to specific frequencies. You hear the car’s noise - and that's it, the drone’s gone. You sit and wait to see if it’ll come back. The car passes — the drone reappears. Sometimes the link never comes back at all.
- Do you regret a lost Mavic?
- I think I regret it maybe too much. I know what it could still have done, and how dearly it costs us. It’s big money.
- Do you fly day and night?
- Of course.
- What other platforms would you like to fly? There are different types, larger fixed-wing UAVs that maybe give you more reach. What are your preferences? Are these drones enough for you?
- I am satisfied with the fact that I am directly on the front line and eliminating the enemy. I was offered to work on a large wing, but I'm not interested. If I find something, then I have to do further reconnaissance, and it's unknown whether they will destroy it or not. And here I am doing everything with my own hands to drive the occupier out of our land. It is interesting for me. I kill enemies on the front line so that they do not reach the guys.
- Did you ever find a whole group of enemies and neutralise them all?
- In Chasiv Yar, our team used a single VOG-17 grenade: we severely wounded two Russians and killed one. I wanted to finish off one of the wounded, but a buddy said, "Wait - fly off." I flew off and saw two more run up to render aid. Back then, they all used Esmarch tourniquets, but this one pulled out two modern tourniquets and applied them deftly. We realized he wasn’t an ordinary fighter! We fly off again. More enemy fighters approached; I made a second munition drop and hit one in the face. Five seconds, and he died. I mean croaked, sorry. Another had his leg taken off above the knee by the VOG-17. There were more in that group, but we put three out of action. That’s a good result for a sortie.
"AFTER A SHIFT I SLEEP 12 HOURS. OUT THERE, FOUR HOURS IS ENOUGH."
- Have many colleagues from the Patrol Police joined Khyzhak specifically? It’s voluntary, right, not that the entire Patrol Police must fight.
- Yes. I know about thirty patrol officers from Zhytomyr who wanted to fight. Twenty-five of them are already in Khyzhak. Some are infantry, some medics, some mortar crews, and of course, aerial reconnaissance. No one is forced. If you want, go to the infantry; if you want, try yourself in aerial reconnaissance. A buddy from Zhytomyr once asked, "Can I join you?" I said, "No problem." When we expanded, we brought him in. He’s in my team now.
- And there are Patrol Police officers in the infantry now?
- Yes, there are.
- But infantry is scary: sitting in trenches all the time instead of deploying in small teams…
- I’ll tell you this: it’s scary everywhere. But it’s the most honorable work. The hardest and the most honorable, in my view. The infantry! And the guys go because they want to defend the country while serving in the Patrol Police.
- How do you see the role of drones in this war?
- It feels like it’s turning into a drone war. One time, I was walking around looking for a position. I noticed a reconnaissance Mavic overhead; nearby a ground drone with TM charges was moving toward the enemy. There are more and more robotic systems helping us save soldiers’ lives.
- So the tools are there, they’re evolving.
- Very rapidly. On the Toretsk axis, the enemy has started using FPVs on fiber-optic tethers far more. I can’t even convey what it looks like, you can’t capture it properly on video: at dawn, it’s like gossamer everywhere, trees strung with thin wires. Those drones aren’t jammed by EW; they don’t need the internet to fly. A fiber-optic FPV drone works like an anti-tank guided missile.
- Everyone understands it’s crucial to locate enemy drone crews. Have you managed to find such a team?
- At the moment, we know where two of their crews are based. We fly in and destroy what we can. I took out their Starlink, and the Unitron was jammed. I watched a guy sprint out, grab the Mavic, and dash back into cover. Our comrade from another crew shot down one of their drones the same day. Then they pinpointed the launch site, waited for it to take off or land, destroyed another drone on the ground and destroyed another Starlink. A couple of days later, I flew to the same spot, another Starlink was there. I destroyed that one too.
Hunting down drone operator teams is one of our priority targets. And I’m sure it’s a priority for them too. Another key task for us is pushing a small VOG-17 munition as far forward as possible with a Mavic—it can absolutely kill. For example, in Toretsk, I flew out to 6 kilometers 700 meters.
- How exhausted do you get during rotations on the line? When does the fatigue hit?
- Look. I’ve just come off shift after several days on position. The fatigue hits tomorrow. Tomorrow I’ll rest—sleep till noon. Out there, you don’t feel it. Four hours of rest, four hours of flying. You watch for movement, if there is, they’re preparing an assault, carrying TM-series mines and emplacing them on the roads. You fly flat-out for those four hours. Several days go by in that mode. You’re either working or grabbing rest. What does that mean? You have to prep munitions for the next sorties, top everything up. Then you can lie down, sleep a couple of hours and back to work. Time flies out there.
- How tired are you, in the broader sense? Do you ever think about going back to your job in Zhytomyr for a year and then returning to Khyzhak? Or is that not an option at all? A rather lofty question, how tired are you of the war?
- I’m tired of the war. Very. But I’m not even considering taking time off. I miss my family, my daughter, my wife, my mother. But I understand: if I leave, someone else has to take my place. And with that other person, you could form another crew that would work on eliminating the enemy. I’m not tired of eliminating the enemy. Not morally, not physically. When the enemy is finished, that’s when we can go rest. I think I’ll take a six-month leave then…
Violetta Kirtoka, Censor. NET
