The guest for this interview with Ukrinform, which we hold as part of our Victory Commanders project, is Yuri Fedorenko, call sign Achilles, commander of the Achilles Strike UAV Battalion at the 92nd Hetman Ivan Sirko Independent Assault Brigade. From the first days of the all-out invasion, Yuri and his soldiers have been serving within a rifle unit of Territorial Defense Forces (TRO). They launched their first UAV into the air in May 2022, on the Kharkiv front, where their defensive positions were mercilessly shelled by day and night by the enemy.
An Armed Forces captain, Yuri Fedorenko was talking about plans to expand his unit into a regiment, about important and highly topical issues such as the remnants of Soviet legacy in the Ukrainian military, forced conscription for war, the military in politics. He also shared his thoughts on the significance of the Kursk offensive operation, what he will do after Ukraine’s victory, and whether one person can change the course of history.
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– You are highly visible in the media, giving a lot of comments and interviews; you are active in social media networks. What is it in for you, why is it important to you?
– Recognitibility is a source of additional resources for military units. There are two components that make a military unit effective. First is the team, because the commander alone can achieve nothing. Where there is a team of motivated people, where everyone has a place and role in the overall mechanism, then the success will definitely be there. The second component is additional sources of funding. War is a very expensive business; the commanders who are unable to solicit additional resources (electronic warfare equipment, reconnaissance UAVs, attack drones and other things the unit requires to perform combat tasks effectively), soldiers serving with their units will never be able to use their potential, open up to full capacity. Because in order to become effective, a new pilot needs to fly 70-100 sorties with a low level of efficiency until he gets enough practice, becomes proficient enough, and this requires resources. That’s why people donate us money, with which we buy the requisite weapons, equipment and UAVs, we use them effectively against the enemy and report back to the Ukrainian society. Therefore, a highly visible presence in the media is an integral component of what enables us to conduct modern military operations effectively and efficiently, to my regret.
– What is the situation like with donations? People actively donate, but were there instances where your fundraising campaigns remained unfinished?
– It’s pretty often that we cannot raise enough funds for a particular purpose, and this is understandable enough, given the current economic reality in the country. But the overall level of support provided, on average for each particular month, remains stable, more or less; sometimes it is a little bit higher, sometimes a little bit lower. But overall, people continue to donate money, and this is very encouraging indeed. On the other hand, the war cannot be won solely at the expense of the Ukrainians. Therefore, we also appeal for donations to our foreign partners, who help financially and with equipment, which they often provide directly to end users. Plus government-funded programs, which, objectively, began to work better, compared to 2023, UAVs are now supplied to the Defense Forces in increasing numbers. Someone may watch this video and say: “Listen, well, what is he speaking about? Really, we find by ourselves 50-60 percent of what we require: Mavics, FPV-drones, munition-dropping UAVs and suchlike things”. With the Achilles Battalion, the ratio is 50:50: a half comes from the government, while the other half is paid for by investors in the Ukrainian nation. Can the government provide 100 percent of what a unit requires? This is unrealistic. Even the Russian Federation, a huge country, with all its petroleum dollars, relies for support, including financial, on third countries; they cannot fully provide for the needs of their arms manufacturing sector. They, too, have pseudo-volunteer movements that raise, accumulate money, assemble FPV drones in garages and supply them to Russian occupying forces. It should be appreciated that there should be no talk like “they are stealing, we’re screwed, everything is bad”. The government is doing everything it can, and our task is to support the Defense Forces, to help the government exercise the powers entrusted to it. After all, this war cannot be won without the aid from the nation.
– In media appearances, you are talking very frankly about these issues; in one of your interviews, you said that forced conscription for war finds little favor among the society, and, in your previous appearances in the media, you commented a lot on the matter of soldiers’ demobilization from service. Regarding unpopular ideas and unpopular decisions, to be specific, have you ever had to engage in issues like these?
-All the way along I’ve been doing it.
– Elaborate, please
– For example, I sincerely believe that everyone should be made eligible for draft. I‘ve got a huge wave of hate, but, to be honest, I don’t care, don’t read comments from people; my friends send some on my phone, reading “die you creature” and suchlike curse. What makes me so confident to say that everyone should be eligible for draft? Because this is the least that the government can do, to get the nation, the population prepared for resistance to the enemy, physically and militarily. If we had passed this decision, the legislation on territorial defense in 2014, if we had passed the decision that everyone should be draft eligible, had brought people through basic military training, specialized training, then during the full-scale war, the adversary would probably have not taken this move to unleash such a full-scale, all-out war, and our losses at the beginning of the war would have been way less significant, we could have been much more successful in stalling the enemy on the battlefield. I cited this example before, but will cite it again: 95 percent of personnel in units… at the beginning of the all-out war, during its first days, had never before in their lifetime held in their hands an individual firearm, such as Kalashnikov assault rifle, for instance. But such people were sent into battle as early as on the 26th, 25th, even in evening hours of 24th of February 22.
– Unfortunately, in 2014, this moment was missed, this decision was not made. What do you think can be done now to tackle this issue?
– Seems like everything is more than simple: when we talk about the past, we cannot change anything. The past is just an experience, invaluable experience that we can apply to the present day and to the future. We appreciate that these decisions were not made in 2014, 2015, 2016, nor in 2024. So, the Ukrainian nation must be told: friends, from next year on, everyone will be eligible for draft…
– Beginning which age, eighteen?
– Yes, beginning the age of eighteen.
– Both men and women?
– Both men and women, beginning the age of eighteen. Where the talk is about direct engagement in hostilities, the age should begin from 23 years old.
– Do you think our society is ready?
– Look, now the talk is not that everyone should be made eligible for draft, meaning that all citizens will have to serve military service, all together and at the same time, which is impracticable. Why impracticable? Because there will not be enough money for this, critical infrastructures must be prepared to work amid war, the economy must work accordingly, private enterprises must work, they cannot all serve at the same time. We are just saying that all the Ukrainians whose health allows, beginning at the age of eighteen, will have to undergo basic military training, that is, to learn about the inner workings of military units, to get a military specialty. Where appropriate and necessary, beginning at the age of twenty-three, they can be called up and sent to perform combat tasks at the time of fully-fledged hostilities. If we are talking about a time of peace, once a year they will have to undergo a regular training course to refresh their knowledge and skills, meaning a person may never go into a battle until the end of life. Such a decision is shunned by people, like, oops, everyone has to serve, but, on the other hand, such a move, if looked at deeply, will allow us to act proactively, so that war is prevented. Because where a nation is prepared, any potential invader will hardly dare start a full-fledged war. Otherwise, where war is already underway, the nation will be able to work effectively, defeating the enemy with minimal losses of its own.
– Actually, there are currently lots of opportunities for civilians to undergo military training. If everyone aged 18+ years old will be made subject to the draft beginning next year, will have to undergo military training, do we have sufficient resources in place to provide training for so many people?
– This is a job for the Cabinet of Ministers, who, in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, should calculate the expenses, multiply the result by the number of people without health limitations, who can be called up, and compile a nationally targeted program that will guide how people will be trained. Arguably, it is impossible that everyone go and get trained at training centers all at once and at the same time; the country is at an all-out war, resources are in short supply, this is a matter of national policy for decades to come. We just have to start it right away, I don’t think there is a single mother in the whole world who gave birth to a child and, rocking it in her arms, says: “You are born for war, it’s definitely you will grow up into a good soldier, will be good at killing enemies.” I think that no mother, in the whole world, wishes such a fate for her child, but we must be ready to fight to protect what is the most valuable to us, first and foremost, protect our children.
— Achilles, your call sign, where did it come from? Do you think it suits you well?
– I don’t really know. Where did it come from? Everything is simple enough; a one-time fellow of mine at the Kyiv City Council, who is currently my deputy commander for Logistics, was at one time a distributor of the movie “Troy”, and, while executing combat missions, as you may know, from the first day, everything was not very good out there with the setting of tasks, etc. We were saying all along that we would complete the task, would do it to the full extent and qualitatively, but not exactly in the way prescribed to us. That is, I had some divisions with higher commanders, not in terms of do it or not do, but in terms of how to do it. If I am set a task, I am supposed to be empowered to choose the ways to do it in order to ensure the desired result is achieved. You know, this about my existing set of character traits: first, rebelliousness, second, determination, third, combat zeal, which I showcased more than once, and fourth, the traits that are normal in civilian life. This caused the movie distributor think that these traits make me look like the movie character Achilles. So, this call sign stuck to me. But there was a pre-history to this. When I was at war back in 2014, I had the call sign Rambo, and at that time, in 2014, I was 23, had good physical fitness; our machine gunner was taken out of service, and I was given a machine gun to become a new machine gunner. I’m standing… wearing a striped navy vest, other things like that, holding this machine gun in my hands, with a scarf tied around my head, and guys say: well, Rambo, first blood, and that’s how I was nicknamed Rambo. When the fully-fledged war broke out, they said to me: hey, you fought in the ATO (Anti-Terrorist Operation – the official name of the war in Donbas from 2014 – ed.) etc., what’s your call sign? Rambo, I reply, and they say: there are already four Rambos standing out there, you are going to be the fifth. I say: well, call me Yuri then. At that time, my unit needed to be named somehow, that’s why the battalion was given this name, Achilles, but mostly they don’t call me Achilles anymore, they call me Yuri, friend, commander, whatever. And that’s probably a very good thing, because when there is talk about the Achilles unit, it’s not the work of one person as a commander, it’s the work of a huge team that works like a Swiss watch mechanism. I can’t say that I’m a very loyal, light commander, I have enough of my own specificity, let’s put it this way, it’s not that I’m tough with my soldiers, but I’m in favor of the end result. The one who fights well takes his rest best (as far as possible amid all-out war), is allowed an extra opportunity to go to see his family. All that is required from him is that he do his tasks clearly and adroitly, in a way so that his comrades remain alive, and the enemies are dead. That’s why we’re gradually moving away from my call sign, because that name is already held by our unit. I don’t think I will have to change my current call sign because it matches the name of my unit. I am not going to change it for the third time. I think we’re going to win this war, one way or another, and there won’t be a third round in my lifetime.
– Since we have started talking about your unit, let’s talk about you as a commander. Human life is undoubtedly what values most in this war, and you consistently highlight this as one of your priorities. What you, a commander, do so that your soldiers’ lives are saved?
– Training. Let me give you a specific example. In 2024 so far, my unit has successfully engaged three times as many targets as it did in 2023, when we were a company-size unit. Since July, 90 percent of the drone crews currently working in the field — that is, pilots, navigators, charging operators, scouts — are all who were forcefully conscripted in 2024, 90 percent, I reiterate it, while just 10 percent are those who have previous combat experience. That’s to say, just six months ago, these men knew nothing about military service, but now they are ranked among the best in the Defense Forces. This is achieved due to consistent, meticulous work, discipline and a never-ending effort towards self-improvement and personnel training. Training, if done appropriately, produces 85 percent of the success on the battlefield and improves a soldier’s chance to survive in combat. Moreover, I myself fight alongside my soldiers, wherever they may fight… At present, we are fighting concurrently in three different locations, all on the Kharkiv front, which are Hlyboke, Vovchansk, and the surrounding of Kupyansk town. Currently, at the time of this interview, it’s the toughest in Kupyansk, so I, as commander of the battalion observation post, am deployed on Kupyansk front, doing combat tasks where the situation is most challenging.
– Your unit was expanded into a battalion half a year ago, right?
– Seven months.
– What is the manning situation like in your unit? How do you select personnel for your unit?
– My unit is currently more than 75 percent complete with personnel. I could have made it completed to full strength, but can’t. Why? Because those who were among the commanding staff of the unit when it was still a company became members of the battalion command, a few more career officers were recruited, those who led platoons, they rose up to become company commanders; those who were squad leaders were promoted to officer’s grade and got assigned to lead platoons. Plus the servicemen who are unwilling to become officers or do better in sergeants’ positions, because the sergeants corps make the backbone of the Defense Forces as a whole, those without whom a war is impossible to wage. It takes a while for them to get an officer’s rank and move up to a position. We are currently 15 percent understaffed, waiting for people to get promoted to higher positions so we have freed positions, which will enable us to recruit more personnel and thus bring up our staff to full strength. Currently, there are 600 people in the battalion’s staff reserve, those who are willing to serve with us, but we just have no vacant positions for them. I think it would be appropriate and logical that we talk about it at a later time…
– Are you ready for such an expansion?
– We must become better, must learn; if we feel the strength in our team, feel that we can be expanded into a regiment, we must move towards this end. That is, it’s not about personal growth in ranks, let me explain why… State awards are a separate story, I myself don’t have many of state awards, and there can’t be more of them, because award applications are either not submitted or take months to process and go through. The reasons cited are like it’s not in time, let’s wait till the war is over etc. I think we would better talk it over in a separate interview. That’s why I am not expecting state awards in the short-term future, anyway. We don’t fight for awards, especially me, because I already have quite a few of them, and I can prove the result of my work by eliminating Russians on the battlefield, which we do quite effectively.
Regarding personnel, I, to be frank, quarrel with higher commanders, I quarrel with top members of the Ministry of Defense, at times with members of the General Staff, with the commission on state awards and heraldry. I can break up anyone for my personnel. My guys, most of them, have been just working for 2.5 years now, from early morning to late night, forgetting about everything, about families, about personal problems, about health. War has a negative impact on health. A soldier no longer needs this medal “For Courage” eight months after relevant application had been submitted… Is the country short of iron to mint them or what?.. For a serviceman, even the one who claims awards are of no importance to him, an award from the state or a government agency is a factor of motivation, an indication that the State recognizes his contribution to our common victory. This is about recognition in society, after all. The issue of state awards just makes me crazy.
– Does that situation really hurt you that much?
– It cannot but hurt me. It sometimes happens that a soldier is already dead, and it’s not until six months later that his award arrives. Doesn’t the country have enough paper to print award submissions or the metal to mint this medal? Aren’t they clever enough to work out the submissions and get them processed as appropriate, or is there a lack of trust in the combatant commanders who submit for the awards? What’s the problem, I can’t see, really? My view is that most submissions should be satisfied, well, maybe excepting the highest state awards, like Hero of Ukraine, for example, this is a little bit different story. Departmental and state awards, if a combat commander believes his serviceman deserves some, then a relevant submission must be worked out as officially appropriate, a medal minted and presented to this serviceman, period. Where it takes one year for an award to reach the soldier who deserved it, I don’t think this is a good state of affairs, it’s disrespect, an insult, I think. I reiterate it again: if you are short of metal, mint medals of plastic. That’s why we are so anxious, concerned that much. This, let’s be clear, is solely about the acquisition of capability, combat capability on the battlefield, and so I hope the decision regarding [our expansion into a] regiment will be made.
– You said some of your soldiers have been in the war zone for 2.5 years now. Does that mean to say there have been no personnel rotations or replacements made over that time?
– Moreover, as for now, we have never been on rotation and do not plan any, we have to get personnel recovered without being diverted from combat missions… What do I mean? It’s not the full battalion that goes out, but, for example, some part of it goes out for a rest, for combat team training, then get back into combat again. The units that go out on rotation, a full-fledged rotation, are now suffering crazy losses during the exit of this organism, during the arrival of new organisms. And if we talk about unmanned systems units, it takes just a month’s time for you to utterly fall out of the information context; you do not understand what is happening on the battlefield, how the enemy acts, how to counter, every day something changes on the battlefield.
These 2.5 years… I will tell you even more – even the assault infantry, particularly from the 92nd Assault Brigade (this did not happen often), they were allowed a rest time only twice, for one week each (the first time was after the Kharkiv counteroffensive, when they were being pulled up closer to the Donetsk front), they were allowed a three-day rest; it’s laughable, no one can recover in three days, it looked more like a redeployment. The other time was around four days. UAV units are constantly at work, performing tasks if not for the brigade of their own, then for some other brigade.
– If we are talking about your path, from the first time you took off your first drone and up to the plans to get your unit expanded into a regiment, how difficult was it to implement these technologies and innovations?
– We started as a rifle unit within TRO forces, and it was not until May 2022 — where we were performing combat missions outside of Chuhuiv on the Kharkiv front — that we began to be engaged with UAV systems. The enemy was mercilessly shelling to rubble the settlement in which we were deployed, firing from all sides, carrying out assault and attack operations, little effective but involving light and heavy armored vehicles. These attacks were fended off by other territorial defense units that were defending an assigned settlement alongside our unit. At that time, we could not see the enemy, except for repelling these attacks, we could not see from where we were being fired upon. You know, it’s mentally difficult to be constantly fired upon to be killed without even knowing the direction incoming fire is coming from. That was the time our unit obtained its first Mavic drone, piloted by a guy who, deplorably, is dead now, was killed defending Bakhmut, sacrificed his life for a free and independent Ukraine… He raised the drone into the air, and that was when we saw the enemy for the first time, saw the spot from where they were firing upon us, saw where they were moving, saw that the enemy had no fear of us at all, did not fear we would target them with fire attacks.
Since May till August 2022, 50 percent of the rifle company began deploying UAVs such as Mavic 3 in performing combat missions on the line of battle, covering up a 30-km long line extending from Pechenihi to Prysheb, a cement plant in Balaklia. During the Kharkiv counteroffensive operation, most of our units were fighting alongside allied units performing artillery spotting roles, with the remainder performing as rifle shooters. In a counter-offensive, the drone must be ready to conduct assault actions with small arms. It was very important that our unit had been trained as riflemen, because… many times we had to engage in close combat with the enemy. In early 2023, at the suggestion of the 92nd Assault Brigade commander, we were transferred from the structure of the Territorial Defense Forces to the 92nd Assault Brigade, its 1st Company, the first air defense strike UAV systems company to have been organized within the Defense Forces at the initiative of the Army Chief Commander. And at the beginning of 2024, a decision was made to increase the strength of the company to a battalion size, due to its effectiveness.
– What makes you so anxious recalling this all?
– I encountered a lot of opposition to that. I was asked again and again: why, Achilles? Because there was a ban… I was assigned a settlement to defend, to prevent resistance of our combat formations, to fend off enemy attacks. There is a military order of command, there is an assigned settlement, you are prohibited to go beyond its boundaries, to the right nor to the left. It was my managerial decision, my responsibility, including criminal one, that the people who were part of the unit work along the 30 km-long line, instead of a 3.5-km long line prescribed to us by higher commanders. At that moment, you understand that you are performing tasks as a rifle unit, have to train people amid combat, searching for resources, the team is still poorly coordinated, manning the team – this all was very difficult to tackle. The first eight months of the all-out invasion (that’s what I think today, I’m 33 years old now) is the hardest test I’ve ever taken in my lifetime. But it was worth it, because today I once again emphasize that the Achilles Battalion team is one of the best drone teams currently existing in Ukraine’s Defense Forces.
– The engagement of targets… Tell us about this, in terms of effectiveness.
– Yes. To imagine, in terms of the amount of the enemy’s equipment destroyed and damaged, the one the enemy will be unable to restore back to service, hypothetically, a tank was smashed, but its turret was not torn off, it is magically beautiful, but it burned out – this is also considered destroyed, but sometimes it is recorded as “damaged” or “hit”. The enemy equipment we destroyed – just imagine Red Square in Moscow, the Kremlin in fire – this whole square will be fully filled up with the equipment that we have destroyed. By that day, it is probably already two such Red Squares filled up with the vehicles destroyed or damaged. Can you imagine the magnitude? Do you know what makes our [drone] team advantageous among our unit? The actual number of the destroyed targets is higher than what will be given in reports. Let me give one example: seven occupiers run into one basement, we launch an FPV drone with a highly lethal payload, it kills them all, plus a slab of concrete falls onto their heads – and we see that the seven occupiers are no longer alive, they all have gone to hell. But we report just the destruction of an engineering and fortification structure. Why? Because there is no confirmation that they are dead, maybe they are still alive. In other words, where an occupier is eliminated, either hit by an FPV drone or a grenade, he is not recorded as “eliminated” unless captured on video.
Likewise is with the equipment, destroyed or hit; every figure featuring in a report or presentation is corroborated with video evidence. Therefore, we cannot artificially inflate the actual result achieved, invent something, because in our activity, this is one of the advantages of unmanned systems: we can see the enemy and how we actually destroy them. Not everyone in the Defense Forces can boast having such a capability.
– You destroy targets of all kinds, ranging from structures and buildings to infantry and vehicles. Are there targets of specific priority that you are hunting for?
– Operators of drones of various types: Mavics, FPV drones, those who operate Supercams, Orlans, Lancets. These are priority targets for me personally, because the enemy-launched UAVs constitute a great threat to our troops. At the same time, if you talk to combatant commanders, most will say that the adversary has actively started to counter our drones. We are now digging three times more than we dug while still a rifle unit; all the entrenchments are dug out and outfitted very meticulously, three or four backup positions are prepared, redeployments are done. Because the adversary seeks to spot where we take off our drones from, then delivers a lethal strike, with a guided missile, precision glide bomb, an artillery gun, whatever. Therefore, just as we are a priority target for the enemy, so they are for us. Basically, the Achilles Battalion already has a capability to destroy the enemy from zero line of battle, from each individual infantryman, from sufficiently long distances, reaching up to the territory of the Russian Federation. The set of targets includes infantry, light and heavy armored vehicles, pilots of drones of various types, personnel concentrations, cameras, ammunition depots, EW systems, air defense systems, and suchlike things.
– What about the technology level of the UAVs used by the enemy?
– The enemy does not have the night bomber UAV like the Babai that we have — an exclusive Ukrainian product, which we currently deploy and which is the absolute leader worldwide. But the adversary actually does not need such a capability now, because they have, it seems like, an unlimited number of precision glide bombs, which they deploy to destroy our positions, front-line villages and cities. Mavic 3, Mavic thermal – the enemy has got more, much more of them than we have, due to the proximity to China. Day/night FPV drones. The Ukrainian government, Ukrainian nation have ensured parity with the enemy; they outnumber us on some sections of the front, we outnumber them on others. And the enemy complain a lot, they call it a certain word that means they have a lot of drones that fly at each of our infantrymen. If we move on to the centralized reconnaissance UAVs such as fixed-wing drones, the enemy’s Supercam, for example, is a high-end product in its arsenal, they manufacture it in-country, get it modernized and improved, and provide it to their troops in significant quantities. Same is with the Orlan, a combustion engine drone. They have somewhat different functionality, operating altitudes: whereas Supercams work mainly along the front line, at depths from 10 to 20 km, the Orlans use higher altitudes, performing situational awareness monitoring, reconnaissance of logistics routes, etc. As early as seven months ago, if you take five of the enemy’s fixed-wing drones and five of ours (we also have gasoline and electric engine drones that are manufactured in Ukraine and provided to us by international partners), on a short section of the front, we used to lose five out of five in seven days, while the opponent used to lose two. Why? They outnumber us in terms of air defense capabilities, which we are currently effectively destroying.
Due to the acquisition of this capability by the Defense Forces, thanks to our drones that shoot down enemy drones, the enemy now loses five out of five drones launched over the same period of time, which is seven days. So, thanks to increased in-country production, thanks to partners’ aid, the training of additional personnel, we are now approaching the enemy in terms of the quantity of these means. We will reach parity sometime in the middle of 2025 at the earliest, if the dynamic of in-country production is maintained. As for the fixed-wing attack drones, in 2023 in the Defense Forces, they were used by very few, specialized units, while enemy’s Lancets sowed everything they could reach. At present, we have tools that are not as perfect as the Lancet, but most of our unmanned systems units already deploy fixed-wing attack drones to target the enemy on its own soil. Therefore, as you can see, we have parity in some capabilities, outnumber the enemy in others, while being significantly behind the enemy in terms of the quantity and quality of some capabilities. Technologies are developing, but I will say frankly, despite all the challenges faced by our country, those people who make (or are supposed to make) decisions, we still maintain … the dynamics of development.
– The Kursk Incursion… Has it changed the situation on those sections of the frontline where you and your people are deployed?
– Let’s ask ourselves: if there had been no Kursk offensive, would the brigades carrying out assault operations in the Kursk region have been able to fully overcome, counteract the enemy so they would not succeed in the Donetsk region or, for example, in the Kharkiv region, on the Kupyansk front? Unfortunately, not. The enemy uses its forces and capabilities in extremely large quantities. Perhaps the success would not be as significant as it is now, particularly in the Donetsk region, but the enemy, unfortunately, did achieve some success. What would we ultimately have? We would have yet another hotspot on the borderline between Kharkiv Oblast and Sumy Oblast or in Sumy Oblast proper, that is, Ukrainian villages would burn again, they would be virtually wiped off the face of the earth. Because Russia was preparing to open a new front. You know that we have a problem with the pool of POWs for exchange, the Russians do not surrender to captivity, their propaganda works such that a soldier, even if lightly wounded in his leg, takes a rifle and shoots himself in the head instead of surrendering to captivity. Why? Because they are made believe they would be tortured if captured, and these are soldiers of the Russian occupying forces … I cannot even imagine what the population of the Russian Federation are like. In other words, these are people with a very low level of education, they believe in monsters. This, however, does not mean to say they are bad solders; they know how to fight, know how to assault. I am just talking about the general erudition of these people, they believe in monsters, they believe that they will be impaled by the evil Ukras, for example. That is why the replenishment of the pool of POWs for exchange, in particular, Kadyrov’s men, is also a very important aspect that we have achieved. To date, a number of POW exchanges have already been carried out, and we returned back, in particular, people who hold the high title of Hero of Ukraine, whom the Russians refused to exchange previously, there was no one to exchange them for.
Next question. For the first time since the end of WWII, we have shown for the world to see that the Russian Federation’s defense system is far from perfect, its warfighting capabilities are hugely overestimated, that it is unable to secure its national border. This is a very serious political, international message from Ukraine, that it is possible, that Russia only pretends being the strongest, but has lots of weaknesses actually. This is important. As far as the Kursk Incursion is concerned, the adversary pulled up a lot of forces and capabilities to that region, particularly from the reserves it held in its own territory and from its occupied areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The adversary was forced to redeploy these forces and capabilities to its Kursk region. If that had not happened, I think the dynamics of hostilities in the Kharkiv Region would now be completely different, much more frantic. That makes the Kursk Offensive a history-making event that gave Ukraine the opportunity to become stronger, both politically and militarily. And we once again demonstrated that not only have we learned how to defend ourselves, but to attack. The operation was carried out very effectively and qualitatively. We cannot assess whether it was feasible or not, we can only state that this operation solved a number of issues that would otherwise have been impossible to solve.
– You had to maintain contact with commanders of various levels, generals… So I would like to ask you a question that is often debated among the society, and you, a military man, like no one else, know the answer to it – regarding the Soviet legacy left behind in Ukraine’s military.
– If you had asked me this question a year ago, I would have told you about the “army of paper” and suchlike things. Today, I can tell you where the “army of paper” came from. It came from the necessity to maintain order, so that there is accounting and a general algorithm of work, because the army is an extremely complex enterprise, very complex if translated from a civilian language. Battalion-level logistics, for example, is the logistics equaling in size to that of a retail network of a huge city such as Kharkiv, for instance. Well, this comparison would probably be appropriate. Logistics is a difficult business: everything needs to be meticulously calculated to make sure that you spend as little resources and time as possible, that risks to people are reduced to the minimum, to minimize the consumption of fuel and provide all the requirements to the maximum possible extent. So, in order to make sure this all is achieved, there must be in place a clear accounting, an understanding of where the “army of paper” came from. Now, I’m very supportive of the military, but I think the digitalization of the military should be held in increments. I will explain why. The adversary already has quite a lot of place in the informational context regarding the issues such as manning, provision with equipment, the setting of combat tasks, everything that is happening among our forces, this thanks to the network of enemy agents. Enemy agents are working seriously and every day. This is not advertised, but the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has certain achievements, every day exposing moles in the ranks of the Defense Forces. It is a little more difficult to do where there is paper document management; with digital documents, it suffices just to crack the code and get an access to the data of interest. That’s why I think the digitalization of the army should take place in increments, with the use of the most stringent data security protocol, so that the adversary does not have any opportunity, with a multi-layer protection system, to break this database.
As for the “army of paper” proper, it must be adjusted to the current battlefield realities. Regarding the remnants of Soviet legacy in the Ukrainian army, it differs from unit to unit. I was lucky. Why? In territorial defense forces, there was a newly organized unit manned with civilian people, the 92nd Assault Brigade, my next place of service. This is one of the best assault brigades in Ukraine, probably the best, a very mighty, strong team led by a highly proficient commander; we never came across the remnants of the Soviet legacy. But if we talk about the level of individual generals and colonels who are now serving in the military, they should simply be expelled from the army, and those officers who are currently being tested by battles should be provided a decent financial provision. I will explain why. An officer who understands the value of human life, if we talk about generals (I will talk about it below) he will do everything possible in his position to save lives and provide maximum effective tools to destroy the enemy. This is the fifth time I have said this. An officer who hasn’t seen the dust of battle, as far as his position is concerned, and there are a lot of them, they haven’t even been in the warzone – they’re people, for example, who are entrusted to make crucial decisions, but can’t tell the difference between a Mavic 3 and FPV drone. How did they end up in the military? These people should not have been in the army in the positions they have, they must be got rid of, got rid of immediately, because their stupidity causes irreparable consequences during the conduct of operations, in particular full-fledge hostilities. Well, how can a person, the one responsible for the provision of UAV systems, place orders without even knowing the difference between a Vampire and a Mavic or a Mavic and an FPV drone, is it serious? Therefore, problems of that kind are really numerous. Once order is restored in Ukraine, we will be the best state in the world, this is my sincere belief. I do believe this day will come. I sincerely believe that, within 25 years, Ukraine will find itself among the top most powerful countries of the world.
– We do believe that it will be so. Do you have political ambitions, what do you see yourself becoming after our victory, considering that there is a prevailing opinion that the military can become a key player in the political arena.
– There are several components to this, and an answer to that question needs to be detailed. First, this war is not going to end up with what was planned initially. Second, after the active phase of hostilities is over, the first three months will be the most painful for the Ukrainian nation. Why? Because we will begin to feel the full scale of the pain and grief caused to our country. Currently, we all are charged to achieve a success. Once a victory is won, a kind of rollback will take place, and the scope of the grief experienced by our State will become clearly visible. There will be, I will say so gently, scoundrels, whom you cannot see now, they cannot be heard or seen — who will accuse and judge – but you will see them, it will happen, unfortunately. Who will be blamed for everything that had happened? Obviously enough, they will set out to slander the government, forgetting that it was Putin who unleased the war, that it is impossible to agree on anything with Putin, the president under whom the war started; the adversary was preparing for, moving towards this end. This is my opinion. The only question left is what we have done to get prepared for this war. In my biased opinion, all the blame will be dumped on the military, the top military brass who made decisions, on field commanders. I therefore doubt that a large proportion of military men will end up in politics. If the State needs me to be engaged in politics, I will be engaged in politics; if I find it necessary to be in the military, I will be in the military, if I am not needed neither in the army nor in politics at some point in time, I think I will find something to do in this life, I have many hobbies and many things that I would like to do to make this world at least a little better and kinder.
– You say that, at first, there will be a “rollback” from these losses, this pain. Probably, this is what distinguishes us from the enemy – we understand at what cost this has been achieved. But you already see with your own eyes this pain and these losses. How do you go through it, what helps you hold on?
– Well, in the summer of 2023, I am coming on a business trip to the city of Kyiv, and I understand that those people featuring in our profile, those dealing with UAVs — those who are supposed to be deeply immersed in the matter, in the context of what the army requires and what needs to be done — they can’t tell black from white. What was purchased in 2023…there were a lot of nice initiatives, but so much garbage went into the Defense Forces that it’s just… You just look at a man, he seems like a sane person, but once he takes office, a position that can be fed from, it’s like a different person: the visor falls down, his muzzle in this “feeder” until it bursts. I cannot understand what is wrong with these people: whether it is due to the hungry childhood of the 1990s, or what, I cannot fathom. I am working among that team, among those who gave a lot to this war, including personal savings. And I can’t understand how an official can put his face into this corrupt feeder until it bursts, this at the time when other people are fighting — under everything that can shoot, under poisonous gases and phosphorous -it doesn’t fit in my head. When I arrived at the command and control post after returning from Kyiv, it hurt so much, maybe you have experienced something like this once in your life, maybe not, I don’t know, my soul and heart fell somewhere down there, motivation, everything fell and I got sick. My temperature had risen, the wave of apathy rolled on in, I felt sick, up to the point where you don’t want to breathe. At that time (it was the Bakhmut front), the fighting there was frantic, violent, messy. I allowed myself to be in this state for one day. Afterwards, having talked to myself, I thought a compromise of some kind was needed, a solution must be found, this can’t go on.
Why do we succumb to everything? After all, there are good initiatives, good companies that manufacture equipment for some purpose or other…, they heed to, carry out technology upgrades, there are people who support, there are businesses who support, donate equipment, there is a result achieved on the battlefield, the enemy cannot succeed. And I reached the thought that that you should not shake your head, saying: they steal, blame each other, etc.. Instead, you should, when you get up every morning, thank God that you are alive, because life is actually the greatest gift, and ask yourself one question (but don’t you deceive nor lie to yourself): what did I do yesterday and what will I do today in order for the Ukrainian state to make itself? And it actually relieved me, looked fully appropriate in terms of motivation, it was not like shutting your eyes to the existing problems, it’s something else, not a distraction that you can’t influence, but a maximum focus of your attention on where and how you can ensure the result, achieve, become better. Something like that.
– Thank you very much for this answer. I want to thank you for what you are doing, for your views and for you standing in defense of our country. Finally, tell us about what each of us dreams of the most – victory. What would a victory mean to you? I know that you believe that we will be able to calm the enemy down so that they no longer even think about approaching our borderline.
– Victory… It is a multi-phase process, you know. The first is what we have lost and what we have retained. This is the first milestone to be achieved.
The second is the opportunity to fight back what the enemy has taken from us and, at some line between the reasonable and the capabilities of our own and of the enemy’s, to create a political prerequisite to get our borders back to 1991 internationally recognized borders. But obviously enough, this is impossible to achieve by military force alone. We can attrition Russia to the point where it becomes weaker, and only then we will be able to talk about the return of these territories. For now, using military force alone… This would be possible if perhaps our international partners send us 15 or so brigade-size units, so that we can fully liberate currently Russian occupied territories, and provide us with all the weapons that we are requesting for.
The third is what I would like very much, that all the traitors are exposed and brought to justice. I understand that this is my wishful thinking, just a dream, but I would sincerely like that these traitors leave our country – all these trash people who are silent now but will certainly raise their heads at an opportune time, unfortunately. I would like very much that we manage to maintain this unity among ourselves, to make our country into a Land of Dreams. Ukraine has every chance to become this Land of Dreams. We have everything to achieve this dream, we just need to gradually get rid of all those corrupt officials.
– Thank you for these answers. As our interview is coming to a close, I would like you to answer a few blitz questions. I ask you to answer briefly and quickly. Ready?
– OK.
– Does the Achilles have got weaknesses?
– No. There is a concept such as “post-mission activity”: where we do something good, we analyze why and do it again. Where we did something wrong, we analyze why, repair the bottlenecks and do it properly. We carried out the post-mission analysis of the operations done by the Achilles, removed all the shortcomings, and so the Achilles unit is currently free of any weaknesses. Some aspects still need to be improved, such as warfighting capability, but everything is in working order, there are no weak points left.
– The craziest act in your life?
– Let this question be left for historians to answer.
– With what thought do you wake up?
– I am alive, my honest word, every morning.
– What does the Commander’s Honor mean to you?
– It’s especially difficult not to let down those people who stand behind you, to fulfill the duty and pass on combat experience. This is not what matters the most for me. What matters the most is the Officer’s Honor, to be loyal to ours, and to work for ours.
– Who is your hero?
– No matter how it sounds, but I would answer thus: the Ukrainian nation. The Ukrainian nation is my hero, I swear, I’m sincere, I’m happy, I’m infinitely proud to be a Ukrainian.
– How would you describe the work of UAV pilots, in a word?
– Effective.
– What motto guides your life right now?
– Go, go!
– How would you describe freedom in three words?
– Personal fulfilment in safety.
– Can one person change the course of history?
– Yes, maybe, but only if this person is supported by a huge team.
– What is the greatest reward for you?
– The number of enemies eliminated; the 4.5.0 “no emergencies” report…
– The first thing you will do after our victory?
— There is a stringent dry law in effect in our unit; I do not drink alcoholic beverages, have not done so for a year and two months now. It happened sometimes, during certain events, some military parties. Since the beginning of the full-fledged war, I have not drunk a drop of alcohol, neither did I drink much previously. Members of personnel, brothers, sisters received state awards, received departmental awards, etc., we did not celebrate anything. Therefore, after a victory is won, the first thing to do will be to assemble personnel for a meeting, give them thanks, you know, it will be like a great holiday, akin to a countryside wedding, where everyone thank each other. This will be followed by round two, a lot of meticulous work to make sure that the Ukrainian State is accomplished. That’s how I see a victory.
– Well, it was very emotional, tough at times, but frank. And I thank you very much for that, see you soon.
Interviewed by Diana Slavinska
Full video of the interview is available on Ukrinform TV channel
Source: Yuri Fedorenko, Achilles Strike UAV Battalion Commander
