“We either keep fighting or we’ll lose our country,” a member of the three-man unit told POLITICO.
KYIV — The three Ukrainian soldiers jump off a gray Nissan pickup truck parked on a forest road, ending an exhausting shift of scanning the skies for incoming Russian drones.
They serve with the 27th Pechersk brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine and identify themselves only by their call-signs: Sedoy (Gray-haired), Malyi (Little one) and Prorab (Foreman, a reference to a former job as a construction worker). Standing by their truck they describe their night.
“We didn’t hit anything flying in our sector this time. Our shift started at midnight yesterday and we went back today at 9 a.m.,” said Sedoy, the team’s machine-gunner, while his two comrades looked as if they were about to fall asleep on their feet.
“I enjoy every time I am shooting at enemy drones,” continued Sedoy, a graying man wearing the olive pixel camouflage combat uniform of Ukraine’s National Guard. Mobile groups like the squad he leads mostly hunt drones, while Ukraine reserves its more expensive Western air defense systems and combat jets for missile attacks.
“Yeah, we do look a bit tired, because you can’t sleep or eat while you’re on duty. But there’s always an element of excitement in this job. You can wait for hours in a car and get nothing, and then you see it. It’s like fishing, or hunting a wild animal,” Sedoy added, a green knit cap squished firmly on his head to keep out the cold.
Men like them are needed to keep the more than 3 million people in the Ukrainian capital safe from the constant barrage of Russian drone attacks.
That day, Ukrainian air defense units from the air force, national guard and land forces together shot down 47 out of 74 Russian kamikaze drones sent to wreak destruction on Ukraine.
The Russian air assault is getting fiercer. Moscow forces launched more than 7,000 drones in 2024, at least twice as many as in 2023. Most were shot down, but many still hit their targets.
So far this month the Kremlin has sent 1,803 kamikaze drones against Ukraine, according to Kyiv’s air force daily statistics. That number includes unarmed decoys intended to overwhelm air defenses.
Mobile air defense squads are largely armed with machine guns — a cost-effective way of knocking down drones. The three-man team led by Sedoy uses a Turkish-made Canik M2 machine gun mounted on top of the truck and firing heavy caliber 12.7 millimeter bullets.
The incessant waves of drones leave Ukraine’s air defense squads exhausted.
“Nowadays we’re under twice as much pressure. We’re evolving, but [the] Russians are also learning. For example, earlier drones were flying straight and I could easily chase them. Now they are zigzagging, changing altitude,” said Prorab, the team’s young driver. The bags under his eyes show the impact of a sleepless night.
“Sometimes I think I know where the drone is coming from and I heat the engine [of the team’s truck] and boom, the drone resurfaces somewhere we did not expect,” Prorab added.
The growing number of drones and missiles is forcing Ukraine to constantly plead for more air defenses. It’s the topic of every meeting with foreign officials by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other senior government and military figures.
Hell of a job
Each mobile unit consists of three soldiers — a machine-gunner, a spotter and a driver — and is assigned a sector of territory it must protect. Helicopters, which frequently assist the on-ground teams, buzz between sectors during large-scale drone attacks. Most teams have been working together for several years.
Iranian-designed Shahed drones fly up to 260 kilometers per hour and have a range of 2,500 km. They carry a 50-kilogram explosive charge, which makes them deadly against both civilian and military targets.
“Drones are coming at us like cockroaches from a jar,” Sedoy said.
“It is dangerous because sometimes it can fly right above us. It is usually filled with explosives, can drop something on our heads, plus speed. All of that makes even a shot-down drone a grave danger for us and for civilians,” Sedoy added.
“Hypothetically, our bullets can shoot through a building. We have to prevent death, but people should listen when the air force says they have to go to a bomb shelter,” said Prorab. That’s why most air defense squads work far from civilian areas, trying to hit drones well outside city limits.
Yesterday’s civilians
Most air defense squads are staffed by former civilians who signed contracts or were mobilized for war. Sedoy, 44, used to be a small business owner; spotter Malyi, 29, was a sales manager; while Prorab, 32, worked in construction.
Air defense squads are constantly training when they are not on duty; they spend four days out of seven on patrol.
“I enjoy shooting down enemy targets. Each time it is an achievement, a new page in my story. I am useful,” said Sedoy, who mobilized for the National Guard in 2022, soon after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Both Malyi and Prorab were also drafted.
After Ukraine’s largely failed mobilization campaign in 2024, the military was hit with a lack of personnel and mass desertions. It was even forced to transfer some soldiers from air defense and the air force to the infantry, although Zelenskyy said last week the practice will stop.
“Yeah, we’re tired, but imagine how tired the guys closer to the war front are. They need rest. They need rotation,” Sedoy said.
The three air defense troops argued that their mission is just as crucial as those directly fighting the Russians along the eastern front.
“I think you just have to talk to people properly to explain that everyone can be useful here and it’s not always you’re sent to the war front,” Malyi added.
Despite the stress and exhaustion, and their keen desire to shed their uniforms and go back to their civilian lives, the three are committed to their task.
“We either keep fighting or we’ll lose our country,” Sedoy said.
