Ukraine’s drone forces commander says his pilots are hitting Russians at such close range that they’re ‘under our feet’

• A drone commander said his elite pilots recently shot down Russian infantry at close range.

• On average, they attacked troops 0.89 miles away from the line of contact, Robert “Madyar” Brovdi said.

• He added that 12 elite drone teams have been increasingly deployed to strike infantry over the past month.

The leader of Ukraine’s private drone branch said its operators attacked advancing Russian infantry at point-blank range, providing rare insight into how some of the country’s best pilots fight.

Major Robert “Madyar” BrovdiUnmanned System Forces Commander wrote: Statement made on Sunday It said its pilots had engaged enemy troops at an average strike depth of 1.44 km, or 0.89 miles, from the line of contact over the past month.

This amounts to about a 15-minute brisk walk for the average person.

“This figure fluctuates, however: We are literally working under our feet,” Madyar wrote.

His remarks reflect how senior Ukrainian commanders in some regions are prioritizing their limited resources. The use of elite assault teams to suppress short-range attacks could also be a sign of increasing pressure on Ukrainian lines.

Unmanned System Forces It is a relatively new elite formation in Ukraine that focuses on providing offensive or reconnaissance support with smaller unmanned aerial vehicles. Madyar, the lead drone unit commander appointed to lead the group in June 2025, said on Sunday that his branch consists of 12 combat teams with presence in 30% of the front line.

Russia trusts black infantry attacks It has been slowly trying to seize territory in Ukraine and has been pushing aggressively in some key frontline areas in recent months.

Madyar wrote that his units were assigned to corps commanders who assigned operators to attack advancing troops at closer range.

“A single Corps commander, with hundreds of crews from his own brigades and subunits within his areas of responsibility, is not prepared to bring SBS efforts to the appropriate depth,” Madyar wrote, referring to Unmanned System Forces as SBS.

He added that this was because Ukrainian commanders wanted to protect their troops in the trenches.

Will be sent for Ukrainian soldiers ditch It is one of the highest-casualty missions of the war. Russian troops are often outnumbered by attacking waves and often require the assistance of friendly drone pilots to thwart attacks before they can get close.

But ideally these drone operators As these units form or begin to launch attacks, try to spot and engage enemy infantry further away, approximately 6 to 10 miles from the line of contact.

“In order to systematically achieve the appropriate depth, it is necessary to manage to create new teams at least three times the current number,” Madyar wrote. “The existing ones will remain mostly tactical depth.”

Drone pilots shoot down more infantry in December

Madyar also said infantry assaults have been making up a larger portion of his units’ time lately.

According to him, the SBS’s overall goal is to target infantry in 30 percent of its attacks, but about 40 percent of its successful attacks in December were against infantry, which included about 12,000 Russian soldiers.

Still, the commander wrote, the majority of the SBS’s engagements throughout its entire history were against Russian equipment and logistics routes ranging from about 2.3 miles to 9.2 miles, depending on the type of system targeted.

He added that Madyar’s branch had hit more than 1,200 “launch points” for Russian drone pilots at an average depth of 2.25 miles.

Elite drone units often make a name for themselves using small, inexpensive drones. Strike priority air defense systemslogistics routes or command posts behind enemy lines.

Indeed, Madyar issued the statement on Sunday in response to recent criticism that his units were focusing too much on attacks on Russian soldiers.

Madyar also wrote that not all SBS teams contribute equally to these attack statistics.

“Only six to seven of the 12 SBS units are operating at the desired pace; others are catching up and need more time,” the statement said.

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