Among the civilian volunteers within the Ukrainian territorial defence, one unit stands out for its feats of arms: Aerorozvidka, literally “air reconnaissance”. Composed of drone pilots and enthusiasts of new technologies, it defeats Russian tanks with its homemade drones.
With our special envoys, Murielle Paradon and Sami Boukhelifa
In a fraction of a second, the drone takes off. At the controls, “Father of drones”, “the father of drones”. ” Formerly a priest, I have always been close to Heaven, in the spiritual sense as well as in the literal sense. jokes Vadim.
This photography enthusiast built his first drone to take aerial shots. In 2014, when the Donbass war broke out in Ukraine, he put his know-how at the service of the army. Since then, he has continued to develop small remote-controlled aircraft.
” Our drones are very efficient because they are very precise. Carrying only three small explosive charges, the drone can destroy a large tank, argues Vadim. We use bombs that date back to the Soviet era. They cost us next to nothing. For a dollar invested in my equipment, I destroy the equivalent of 10,000 dollars worth of Russian weaponry. »
Light, handy, Vadim’s drone weighs 5 kg. At an altitude of 300 meters, it has a range of 10 km. A formidable attack weapon that stopped the advance of Russian troops towards kyiv. ” On the ground, the Russians were rapidly changing positions. But thanks to our drones, we could track their movements. Without the drones, we would have had many more Ukrainian soldiers killed “.
No way for Vadim to reveal the number of drones the Aerorozvidka unit has. But he assures us: the whole of Ukrainian territory is covered.
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